Who we are and how we keep it safe
Plain answers for parents, before you hand your teen a phone.
Who we are
We’re Steve and Stephanie Mielke, a mom and dad. We built Ready for Life for our own family first: the everyday skills we wanted our kids to have before they leave home, like money, chores, car basics, and talking to adults.
It runs as a small family pilot. We use it at home ourselves, one short quest at a time, and we fix things as families tell us what works.
We don’t share our kids’ names or photos here, and we won’t ask you to share yours.
How a quest works
Watching alone never finishes a quest. Try a sample quest (Money M01).
How videos are picked
- Every video is hand-picked for its quest. No auto-play feeds, no random suggestions.
- We look for clear teaching from careful publishers, and we keep the main video short.
- We skip videos that push a product, a “get rich quick” idea, or hot tips.
- Longer talks are optional. They sit under Parent-picked extras so a parent can preview first.
- Videos play in YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie.com). YouTube may still set cookies once a video plays.
- If a quest has no good video yet, it uses a parent talk-through. We never use placeholder videos.
Kid safety rules
- Money practice is on paper. No quest opens a real account, card, or trade.
- Car quests are tagged. “Pre-driver OK” or “Learner permit or license needed.” Nothing asks a teen to drive alone.
- Health quests are basics, not medical advice. Emergency: call 911. Crisis: call or text 988.
- Faith + Character is family-led and optional.
- No posting, chat, or public profiles. Quests never ask a teen to post online, share a location, or type a real card number or bank login.
- Parents sign off each lane. Inside a lane, a teen checks off each quest with a simple “I showed a parent” confirm. At each of the 10 lane checkpoints, a parent types the family PIN to finish the lane and unlock its badge and certificate. Only the parent sets or changes the PIN. On an account, the PIN is checked on our server and stored only as a scrambled (hashed) code. Five wrong tries pause sign-off for 15 minutes.
- Without an account, the PIN lives only on that one device. It keeps honest kids honest, but it is not a lock. For real sign-off, use an account.
Community: 13 and up only
Ready for Life has no chat, forum, or group space today. If we ever add one, it will be for ages 13 and up only, parent-approved, and moderated.
If your child is under 13, a parent should create and run the account.
Privacy in plain words
- What we store: your teen’s name, sign-in email, an optional parent email, answers to the short welcome questions, checked-off quests, and the parent PIN (hashed). Takeaways and notes stay on your device.
- Where: with Supabase, our database host, in a US data center.
- Who sees it: your family account, and the two of us so we can run the site and help when something breaks.
- Video ratings: we ask teens to rate videos (1–5 stars, one tap, always skippable) and use anonymous totals of those ratings, and of where teens get stuck, to improve quests. No ad or analytics trackers.
- Payments: handled by Stripe if you pick a paid plan. We never see or store your card number.
- Never: we don’t sell your data and we don’t show ads.
- Delete: ask us with the form below and we’ll delete the account and its progress.
Flag a problem or ask us
A video you don’t like, a quest that feels off, a privacy question, or a delete request.
Quick answers
Who is it for?
Teens and the parents who sign off on their lanes. A parent signs up and makes a login for each teen (up to 4).
Does a parent sign off every quest?
No. Inside a lane, your teen checks off each quest with a quick “I showed a parent” confirm, and that opens the next quest. You type your PIN at each lane checkpoint, when a lane is finished: 10 in all, one per lane. That completes the lane and unlocks its badge and certificate. Lanes can be done in any order.
How much time does it take?
Quests are short and paced a few a week. Go at your family’s speed.
Does it work for homeschool?
Families can use it alongside any schooling. It’s a set of real-life skills, not a graded course.
What does it cost?
Free during the pilot. Paid plans will be one family plan: $19 a month or $149 a year for the whole family, up to 4 teens. The first quest in every lane stays free. See plans.
Do teens need an email?
No. A parent signs up with their own email and makes a login for each teen in the Parent dashboard: a username and password, nothing else. We don’t ask for a teen’s email, phone or birthday. Parents can reset a teen’s password or remove a teen (and their progress) anytime.