Apple considers age thirteen an adult?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Apple considers age thirteen an adult?

My thirteen year old son recently spent 90 minutes on pornhub, through some accidental invitation to a WhatsApp thread. Despite my having limited (of course) adult websites on screen time. He does not know my password. He was completely traumatised. When I phoned apple France (where we live) I was told that in Apple UK (where we have our account) a thirteen year old is considered adult and there is basically nothing we can do, and that screen time and everything about it can be disabled at any time by the child if they are registered thirteen or over. THIRTEEN????? When he hasn't even had his first kiss? Please help.

iPhone 11

Posted on May 16, 2024 1:54 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 6

11,295 points

May 16, 2024 2:53 PM in response to ruthphillips

You may want to reconsider the use of WhatsApp for a 13 year old. The developer just reduced the age requirement from 16 in Europe this year under heavy protest. Do children really need messages that are removed automatically after viewing so you cannot monitor their communications and live location tracking.

I'm not trying to tell anyone how to be a parent, just wanted to provide the information so you can make an informed decision.

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Answer 2

May 16, 2024 2:35 PM in response to ruthphillips

ruthphillips wrote:

and that screen time and everything about it can be disabled at any time by the child if they are registered thirteen or over.

This is false. Either the Apple rep did not know how it works or he lied. There is no way to remove restrictions unless the Screen Time password is known. Age is not a factor. Adults over 21 can have screen time active and things restricted and cannot be disabled without the proper passwords.

Screen Time is not automatically disabled or allowed to be disabled simply by being 13.

Your son, did something to bypass the Screen time settings somehow. Either he guessed your password or somehow bypassed the restrictions via Whatsapp. Whatsapp is not an Apple app, it is owned by Facebook / Meta.

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