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Common Sense Media's New Curriculum Builds the Human Skills AI Is Quietly Eroding

The Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum for grades 9-12 pairs AI literacy with the critical thinking, creativity, and connection skills students need most now.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Digital Citizenship & Literacy K–12 Education

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2026—Today, Common Sense Media released its new Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum, a reimagining of grade 9–12 lessons designed to help teachers build essential human capabilities in their students. Data backs up the urgent need for this curriculum: A recent survey from the Common Sense Media Youth AI Safety Institute found that students are already using AI for schoolwork, but aren't being taught how to use it safely or critically—leaving a widening gap between how quickly AI is adopted and how well equipped students are to navigate it.

The curriculum includes lessons focused on the questions, topics, and challenges that students face today, including media and AI literacy, online safety, and financial literacy. The curriculum doesn't teach kids specific tech skills, and it doesn't promote the use of tech in the classroom. The curriculum meets students where the erosion is happening most:

  • Deepfakes and Consent: Students explore why using someone's likeness without their permission is a violation, and why the harm is real even when the image isn't.
  • Social Media and Parasocial Relationships: Students learn when being a fan shifts into something more concerning.
  • Social Engineering and AI: Students dig into why social engineering works and how it's related to hacking trust.
  • Financial Literacy: Students use math and real dilemmas to uncover how design—not chance—shapes online spending.

The new curriculum is free for teachers, schools, and districts. Seventy percent of U.S. schools use Common Sense Media's curricula.

"Young people today are growing up in an environment where there is less friction and taking the easy way out academically is right at their fingertips," said Common Sense Media Chief Program Officer Yvette Renteria. "Our curriculum is designed to ensure students are engaging with AI and technology through a critical lens, with a focus on building the human capacities that will help them succeed both in and out of the classroom."

The curriculum's emphasis on human connection and critical thinking is underscored by findings from a recent Common Sense Media survey, which revealed that students are using AI for schoolwork but are not being taught how to use it safely and appropriately.

Example lessons from the new curriculum:

Designed to Feel Human. Essential question: How are AI chatbots designed to make you feel like "they" get you?

  • Talking to an AI chatbot can feel surprisingly personal. This isn't an accident—it's a design choice that makes a chatbot feel human. In this lesson, students explore the design features behind that feeling and consider what that might mean for how they use these tools over time.

Does Our AI Policy Work for Us? Essential question: What does it take for an AI policy to truly support student learning?

  • This lesson helps students reflect on what they actually want from learning, then puts that self-knowledge to work. Using a four-criteria rubric, students evaluate their school's real AI policy and consider recommendations to strengthen it in support of student learning.

In addition to the curriculum, Common Sense Media is also introducing a new AI and Student Well-Being professional development course to help teachers understand how this new technology is impacting their students outside of the classroom.

The full curriculum can be found here.

About Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the research-backed information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the age of apps, algorithms, and AI. We rate, educate, and advocate to protect and prepare kids online. Our ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users globally, over 1.4 million educators, and more than 100,000 schools worldwide every year. Learn more at commonsense.org.