Welcome to Parent Pixels, a parenting newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. This week:
🔐 ChatGPT adds parental controls for teens: OpenAI announced that parental control features for teens will be released within the month. The new settings will allow parents to link accounts with their teens, set guardrails around responses, and get alerts when the system detects signs of distress.
The update follows a wrongful death lawsuit recently filed in California. The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine allege that ChatGPT contributed to, and even encouraged, their son’s suicide. OpenAI and other AI companies have also come under fire after multiple reports from people who say AI companion apps have contributed to their loved ones’ mental health crises.
With ChatGPT’s parental controls, parents will be able to:
Our take: What happened to the Raine family is a tragedy, and it’s unfortunate that OpenAI took this long to implement common-sense parental controls. Actions like this underscore the fact that the apps your child uses aren’t necessarily designed for kids — they’re designed for engagement, and OpenAI has even acknowledged that its GPT-4o model “fell short in recognizing signs of delusion or emotional dependency” in some instances.
While we wait for OpenAI to roll out parental controls, you can start monitoring your child’s AI chats right now. BrightCanary monitors your child’s interactions with AI apps on their iPhone, including Character.ai, Replika, and ChatGPT.
🎧 Teens can now message each other on Spotify: Ah, good, another way for your kid to send you new covers of all the songs from Kpop Demon Hunters — Spotify announced that users 16+ will now be able to direct message their friends. When users accept a message request, they’ll be able to share Spotify content, texts, and emojis back and forth. Users can also opt out of Messages in their Settings.
However, it’s relatively easy to fib about your age on Spotify, so there’s a chance your child might be able to use the new messages feature, even if they’re younger than 16. And we’re not huge fans of new ways for strangers to connect with kids on popular apps. Take a step to check your child’s age and privacy settings on Spotify, and talk to them about why it’s important to only talk to people they know in real life and what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable.
Take the extra step to monitor their activity, too. If you have the BrightCanary Keyboard installed, you can monitor what they type on all the apps they use, including Spotify messages.
Parent Pixels is a biweekly newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox a day early? Subscribe here.
One of the best ways to connect with your kiddo: by showing curiosity about what they actually care about. BrightCanary’s Interests section highlights topics your child has been typing about most often, like certain TV shows and bands. Use those clues to ask open-ended questions that show you’re paying attention and want to understand their world. Here are some conversation starters to get you going:
👀 As if Roblox wasn’t taking up enough of your child’s screen time: Roblox announced plans to launch its own TikTok-style app called “Roblox Moments.”
🫠 Bus tracker apps. Parent portals. And endless, endless messages. Are you suffering from digital burnout because of too many school apps and emails? Check out these tips to manage it all.
🚫 Illinois has become the first state to ban AI apps from providing mental health advice, a move which is intended to protect vulnerable users from receiving harmful medical advice from unregulated AI apps.
🌮 Sounds like something our teens would do: Taco Bell is rethinking its AI drive-throughs after a man ordered 18,000 waters.
