ChatGPT for Teens safety alerts failed in watchdog tests

Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute rated ChatGPT for Teens an unacceptable risk after testing more than 4,000 prompts on accounts registered to teen users. The group says the product still falls short on parental alerts, crisis responses, age handling and homework controls.

The highest-stakes finding concerns linked parent accounts. Common Sense Media says testers could run prolonged conversations about self-harm or disordered eating without reliably triggering parent notifications. The group also said some responses did not consistently route teens toward professional or trusted-adult support when its reviewers expected that kind of intervention.

OpenAI disputed parts of the testing in statements to reporters, saying it does not believe the assessment reflects how the teen safeguards work in practice. The company said it is committed to teen safety and to improving the product with expert input.

For families and schools, the important point is practical rather than ideological: parent controls should not be treated as a complete safety layer. If a teen is using AI tools, adults still need direct conversations, clear boundaries and another path for support outside the chatbot.