App safety check

Is WhatsApp OK for my child?

The messaging app most UK families already use: texts, voice notes, calls and group chats, all encrypted. For many children it is their first social app, usually to reach family and school friends.

Minimum age

Lowered from 16 to 13 in the UK and EU in April 2024, a change campaigners opposed.

Type

Messaging

Official safety page

WhatsApp Help Centre

What to actually watch for

Group chats are the main risk: a child can be added to a group full of strangers by one contact, and group content is unmoderated.
Forwarded content spreads fast, including scams, hoaxes and material a child should not see.
Disappearing messages can hide bullying or pressure from your view.
Live location sharing is built in and easy to switch on without thinking.

The settings worth switching on

Set profile photo, last seen and status to "My contacts" in Settings, then Privacy.
Change "Who can add me to groups" from Everyone to "My contacts", the single most useful setting.
Show your child how to block and report a contact, and how to leave a group silently.
Agree that live location stays off except with family.

Our honest take

Reasonable as a first messaging app for secondary-school age, provided the group settings are locked down and you talk about what to do when a group chat turns nasty, because sooner or later one will. There are no parental controls as such, so the settings and the conversation are the protection.

Frequently asked questions

The minimum age is 13 in the UK, lowered from 16 in April 2024. There is no age verification beyond entering a date of birth, which is why parental judgement matters more than the number.

No, there is no parental control mode. Protection comes from the privacy settings on your child's account, especially limiting who can add them to groups, plus your own conversations about group chat behaviour.

For contact with strangers, generally yes: WhatsApp is built around people you know, with no public feed and no discovery algorithm. The risks are concentrated in group chats and forwarded content rather than strangers finding your child.

Go deeper

Setting up a first phone safely Social media safety hub Family agreement builder

Other messaging apps parents ask about

Is Discord OK?

Minimum age: 13

Is Telegram OK?

Minimum age: 16

Last reviewed: August 2026. Minimum ages and settings were checked against the platform's own published policies, and platforms change them often, so the official page linked above always has the latest.