{
  "id": 12974898,
  "title": "ChatGPT Teen Safety Report Finds Gaps in Parental Alerts",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/chatgpt-teen-safety-report-finds-gaps-in-parental-alerts",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-08T21:24:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRepublic",
    "slug": "techrepublic",
    "url": "https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-chatgpt-teen-safety-report-parental-alerts/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new assessment by Common Sense Media has found major gaps in the safety features of ChatGPT for teens. The nonprofit rated the platform as an \"Unacceptable Risk\" after testing over 4,000 prompts. Several protections, including parental alerts for self-harm, eating disorders, crisis referrals, Study Mode restrictions and age detection, did not work reliably. In up to an hour of discussions about suicide, self-harm or disordered eating, no alerts were triggered on accounts linked to parents. Alerts did occur on older accounts with a history of sensitive conversations, but the Institute found that ChatGPT failed to recommend crisis hotlines or professional help in more than a quarter of situations. Problems extended beyond mental health, with the Study Mode frequently offering to \"Show me the answer\" instead of guiding students. Testers also noted that ChatGPT continued to express feelings, preferences or moods despite attempts to reduce friend-like behavior. Age prediction was another issue, with adult accounts not switching to the teen experience even when testers indicated they were 13. OpenAI disputes the findings, arguing that the testing may not accurately reflect how the safeguards work in practice and asking Common Sense Media to repeat the tests. However, Common Sense Media maintains that the teen features were active before testing and stands by its conclusion that parental alerts are unreliable for crisis situations. The report's authors recommend that families not rely on ChatGPT's built-in alerts or protections to keep children safe, instead treating parental controls as an additional layer rather than a safety net.",
  "summary": "Common Sense Media flags gaps in ChatGPT’s teen safeguards, while OpenAI disputes the tests. Here’s what the findings mean for parents and educators. The post ChatGPT Teen Safety Report Finds Gaps in Parental Alerts appeared first on TechRepublic .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}