WhatsApp has introduced new parental controls for teen accounts to give parents more control over how their children use the messaging platform.
The new tools are designed to help parents manage certain privacy and content settings without giving them access to their child’s personal chats or calls.
The new controls are optional and can be set according to each family’s needs. Parents and teens can decide together which settings should be restricted.
WhatsApp Parental Controls for Teen Accounts
The new WhatsApp parental controls allow parents to manage several important settings for teen accounts.
These include who can see the teen’s profile photo, who can add them to WhatsApp groups and how Status updates and Channels can be used.
Parents also get separate controls for Meta AI. They can choose the standard 13+ setting for a teen account or select an option with more limited content.
The controls are designed to provide additional safety while keeping personal conversations private. Parents cannot see their child’s private WhatsApp chats or calls through these settings.
Parents Can Get Group Activity Alerts
WhatsApp has also introduced Group Activity Alerts for parents. Parents can receive an alert when their teen joins or leaves a new WhatsApp group.
An alert may also be sent if the number of members in a group that the teen is already part of increases significantly. This gives parents information about major changes in group activity without showing them the child’s private conversations.
Control Over Status and Channels
Parents can also manage certain privacy and content settings related to Status and Channels. They can control who can see their teen’s Status updates and apply restrictions to Channel-related settings.
These options allow parents to set boundaries around WhatsApp usage without completely blocking the teen from using the platform.
Parent Controls Protected With a PIN
A parent-set PIN is an important part of the new system. If a teen tries to change a setting that has been locked by a parent, the parent’s PIN will be required.
This is intended to prevent teens from easily removing restrictions set by their parents. Parents can later change the controls or disable them if they decide the restrictions are no longer needed.
The new features give families more flexibility over teen WhatsApp accounts. At the same time, WhatsApp continues to keep personal chats
and calls separate from the parental controls, so parents receive activity alerts and manage selected settings rather than gaining access to private conversations.
