OpenAI launched a separate version of ChatGPT for kids 13 to 17. Whether your child is in it depends on the birthday they entered when they signed up.
On August 18, OpenAI began rolling out ChatGPT for Teens.
It's a different set of rules for kids 13 to 17. Not a different app or new download. It’s the same account but with different guardrails.
Two things put a kid in the teen experience.
They told OpenAI their age. Anyone who says they're 13 to 17 gets placed there automatically.
Or OpenAI guessed. A new age-prediction system estimates whether an account belongs to someone under 18. When it isn't confident, OpenAI says it defaults to the under-18 experience.
Inside ChatGPT for Teens, the platform is no longer permitted to use romantic language, encourage emotional dependence, or imply that it has feelings or consciousness. There are added protections around self-harm, eating disorders, violence, age-restricted goods, and explicit content. There are break reminders. There's a study mode built to walk a student toward an answer instead of handing them one.
When our team ran the Nevah experiment on ChatGPT, we were surprisingly impressed. Nevah is our 13-year-old test account, and we asked it the things a 13-year-old girl would actually ask. It didn't help her get around her parents' rules or take the bait on explicit questions. We said so on camera, the same way we said Snapchat was bad three minutes in.
ChatGPT for Teens is a step in the right direction.
In June 2026, Common Sense Media released a national census of AI use by kids. 86% of children ages 9 to 17 use or interact with AI. Nearly a quarter use it every day.
I don't need a survey to know that number is real. When I speak in schools, I tell the kids to pretend their teachers aren't in the room, and I ask how many of them have used ChatGPT for schoolwork. Nearly every hand goes up.
Think about what's changed in one generation. When you were stuck on homework, your options were a parent, a friend who was also stuck, or giving up. Your kid has something that answers instantly, never gets frustrated, and will write the whole assignment if asked.
That same study found something else. Among kids who say they feel lonely at least some of the time, 54% use AI every day. Kids who have a hard time making friends are far more likely to use AI to talk through their feelings, and nearly three times as likely to say AI understands them better than most people do.
Some kids aren't using AI for homework. They're using it for companionship. Constant attention and affirmation at their fingertips 24/7.
Make sure your child's age is set correctly. Everything else on this page is secondary.
The wrong birthday puts your 14-year-old into the adult version of ChatGPT, and none of the teen protections apply.
Your teen has to do this part. You can't do it from your account. Ask them to open Settings, select Account, and select Verify age.
Not as an accusation. As a favor. "Hey, will you check something with me?"
1. Link your account to theirs. On your own ChatGPT account, open Settings, select Parental controls, select Add family member, then choose Use phone or Use email. Enter your teen's number or email and select Send. They get a link, and they have to accept it. It does not work without them. We walk through this step-by-step in our ChatGPT Parental Controls module.
2. Set quiet hours. Once you're linked, select your teen's name under Family members. Quiet hours let you schedule times when ChatGPT is unavailable. Set it overnight. We wouldn't let our kids wander the streets alone at night. We should also keep them off AI platforms and social media apps.
3. Turn off "Reference saved memories." Same list of toggles. Memory is what turns an AI tool into an AI relationship.
4. Know what these controls don't do. They do not give you access to your teen's conversations, chat history, or real-time activity. If OpenAI detects a safety concern, you get a short notification about the type of concern, not a transcript. And either of you can unlink at any time. You'll be notified if your teen does, but there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Don't open with "are you using AI?"
You already know the answer. All that question does is make them defensive.
Try this instead:
"What's something ChatGPT said to you this week that felt weird? Something you maybe didn't want to show me?"
Then remind them there’s nothing they can come to you with that's too embarrassing, too awkward, or too far gone. Nothing is off limits. You'll walk with them through any mistake.
Because a kid who is afraid of losing the phone will not tell you when something goes wrong.
We cover exactly how to have these conversations in our ChatGPT module and our Open Communication modules.
Kids are going to make mistakes with AI. We would have too.
They'll ask a chatbot something they'd never ask an adult. They'll lie about their birthday. They'll let AI write their English paper.
None of us have all the answers here, myself included. We're all figuring this one out one day at a time. Delay access. Set the controls. Have the conversations early and often.
And give them an abundance of grace while they figure it out. They're kids. They're curious.
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OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens on August 18 for users 13 to 17. It bans romantic language, blocks emotional-dependence patterns, and adds protections around self-harm, eating disorders, and explicit content. Your child only gets it if their age is set correctly or OpenAI's age-prediction system flags them as under 18. The single most important thing you can do is confirm your child's real birthday is on the account. Then link accounts, set overnight quiet hours, and turn off saved memories. Parental controls won't show you what your child is saying, so keep talking to them.
Ben Tracy is a leading keynote speaker on digital citizenship, online safety, and responsible social media use.
He is also a successful endurance athlete who recently completed a 3,125 mile transcontinental run across America to raise awareness about the dangers facing children online and honor children lost to social media harms.
Over 125 days, Ben completed 120 marathons from coast to coast and spoke in more than 50 schools along the way.
Since 2018, Ben has spoken to more than 500,000 students, parents, and educators in over 600 schools nationwide.
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