Everyday Parents Impacting Change
EPIC
Sixteen cities. Parents and young people in the same building on the same night, talking about what AI is really doing in their homes, their classrooms and their jobs. The thrilling parts and the 2 a.m. parts, usually in the same conversation.
The National Parents Union and Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution, with local parent organizations at every stop.
Your kid says, “I asked AI.” What's your gut?
Everybody got asked about AI except the people raising the kids.
Tech companies are sprinting. School districts are writing rules in a hurry, or not writing them at all. And the families living with every bit of it keep getting asked last. EPIC flips the order. Parents in one room, young people down the hall, then everybody together. Real stories and a demand with a name on it before anyone goes home.
of parents give their school an A for clear tech and AI policy. Dead last on the whole report card.NPU/Echelon Insights, 1,527 K-12 parents, May 28 to June 1, 2026.
How the night runs
Three hours. Two rooms. One question asked the same way in every city: is this good for kids?
What's actually happening
Not opinions. Stories. The homework, the chatbot, the thing you found on their phone, the thing the school never mentioned.
What worries you. What excites you.
Both, same breath. Fear data on AI and families exists in piles. Hope data barely exists. We're collecting both.
What if this went right for your kid?
Not kids in general. Yours. What do you actually want this thing to do for them?
Show Me Your Phone
Thirty minutes where parents open the tools their kids actually use and watch them work. Listening turns into learning right here.
The young people report back
Two of them walk in and tell the parents what their room said. Not staff. Them. That's the center of the night.
One demand. One name.
The room writes a single sentence aimed at a decision-maker who has to answer it. Everybody leaves with a job.
Sixteen stops. Find yours.
Nine stops are locked for this fall. Seven more land in January 2027. Tap yours.
Get in the room.
Two ways in. Grab a seat at a stop that's already on the map, or make the case for your town.
This goes straight to the National Parents Union team.
Worried or hopeful? Drag it.
Parents live on both ends. Most of us live in the middle.
want chatbots required by law to alert parents if a child asks about harmful or illegal behavior
say schools should tell parents when their child will use or interact with AI
want parents able to see the conversations their child has had with a chatbot
say being skilled with AI tools will be essential or very important to their child's career
want their child's school teaching students to use AI effectively
is AI's net impact on kids, as parents rate it. Social media sits at −24.
Right here is where most parents actually stand. Keep them safe and get them ready. Same breath.
NPU/Echelon Insights national survey of 1,527 parents of K-12 public school students, fielded May 28 to June 1, 2026. Margin of error ±2.7 points.
Rebecca Winthrop took this question to 50 countries. Now it's coming to your city.
Rebecca directs the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Her team's yearlong global study heard from more than 500 students, teachers, parents, education leaders and technologists across 50 countries and reviewed more than 400 studies. One finding: on the path we're on, the risks to students outweigh the benefits. The other finding: it is not too late to bend that. Her framework runs through every EPIC table.
Read the Brookings report Burns, Winthrop, Luther, Venetis and Karim, A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect, Brookings Center for Universal Education, January 2026.Do your homework before your city's night.
ParentsonAI.orgProtected, Not Restricted. What 1,527 parents told us they want from AI and tech in their kids' schools. MyKidMyData.orgThe red, yellow and green light for AI in your kid's school, plus the questions to ask your principal. In English, Spanish and Portuguese. ProtectandPrepare.orgWhy we refuse to choose between keeping kids safe and getting them ready. Brookings on AI + kidsRebecca Winthrop and the Center for Universal Education: Prosper, Prepare, Protect.
Pull up a chair.
No panel of experts who've never packed a lunchbox. Families, figuring out the future out loud. Bring your questions, bring your teenager, bring the aunt who actually reads the terms of service.