Is ChatGPT safe for teens? Common Sense flags gaps as OpenAI touts learning benefits

Common Sense Media has flagged safety gaps in ChatGPT for teens, including age detection, crisis intervention and parental alerts. OpenAI, meanwhile, says teenagers are using the chatbot heavily for learning and is adding new college and study tools.

OpenAI says its ChatGPT experience for teens helps them learn, prepare for college and build study skills. But new findings from Common Sense Media raise a bigger question: is ChatGPT safe enough for teenagers?

The Youth AI Safety Institute at Common Sense Media tested ChatGPT for Teens using more than 4,000 prompts from accounts set up by users aged 13 to 17. In its report, released in October 2026, the watchdog said some key safeguards “failed” and rated the experience an “unacceptable risk”. OpenAI, meanwhile, has pointed to encouraging early adoption figures and new education-focused features.

Common Sense flags five major safety gaps

The Youth AI Safety Institute reports that safety warnings were not necessarily activated when testers talked about self-harming, suicide, or anorexia. A few times, it has been said that teenagers were discussing ‘sensitive' topics for as long as an hour without their parents receiving an alert.

The watchdog also found gaps in crisis intervention. The evaluation revealed that ChatGPT did not suggest professional help in over a quarter of the applicable tests. This was below the Institute's 95% safety threshold on three of five key harm categories, the Institute said.

There were also concerns about the study mode. Testers were said to have circumvented the restrictions and completed their homework. Elaborating on the assessment, the chatbot was able to portray human emotions and preferences even amidst measures taken to minimise emotional bonding.

Another worry was age detection. Common Sense said adult-registered test accounts did not switch to the teen experience even after users explicitly identified themselves as 13 years old.

Pragya Singha Roy