WhatsApp Now Allows Under 13's

WhatsApp has been a significant concern for many schools, particularly chat groups where predominantly low level issues suddenly escalate. Last week, in another completely unexpected move, WhatsApp announced that children under 13 can now use WhatsApp via 'Parent-Managed Accounts'. 

Essentially these are accounts set up by the parent on the child's device, but managed from the parents device. As well as no access to AI within WhatsApp and no ads there are parent management features which include:

• Contact management - parents can choose who can contact their child and which chat groups they can join. Children cannot join groups without parents approval. Messages from unknown contacts are sent to the parent first for approval.
• Activity notifications - parents can view their child's activity such as when a child adds a new contact or if disappearing messages are turned on. Parents will also be notified if their child blocks or reports a contact.

Link - Introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp.
Link - How to set up a parent-managed account.