Common Sense Media Calls ChatGPT for Teens an Unacceptable Risk

Common Sense Media published a 36-page risk assessment of ChatGPT for Teens on Wednesday, concluding that the product poses an unacceptable risk for all children under 18.

The assessment found that ChatGPT for Teens does not consistently send safety alerts to accounts linked to a parent. In a test that linked a dozen teen accounts to parental accounts and sent messages about suicide, self-harm or disordered eating for up to an hour, no safety notification was sent.

Common Sense Media wrote 390 unique mental health prompts, and three child psychiatrists determined that 201 of them should trigger a crisis response. ChatGPT for Teens provided a hotline number in 23 percent of those crisis-warranting cases, compared with 33 percent for the pre-August version of ChatGPT. The vanilla chatbot referenced a specific medical or mental-health professional in 68 percent of cases, versus 58 percent for ChatGPT for Teens. ChatGPT for Teens told test accounts to involve a trusted adult in 94 percent of cases, compared with 87 percent for the previous version.

The review also found that OpenAI's age prediction system did not work properly and that ChatGPT still mimics feelings when teens treat it like a person. OpenAI said nearly 1.2 million teens used ChatGPT's interactive learning visuals in one week, and that less than two percent of teen users spent more than three consecutive hours on the platform.

Background

OpenAI released ChatGPT for Teens in August 2025. At launch, Lauren Jonas, OpenAI's head of youth and families, told Engadget that flagged content is reviewed by full-time OpenAI employees before a parent is notified, and that the company aims to notify parents within an hour. OpenAI has said it may take a few hours after a parent links their account before its system can send safety notifications, and contends a technical issue may have caused a delay in messaging. Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute is funded in part by the OpenAI Foundation.