This chapter set the scene and provides an overview of the key findings of this report on how children engage with digital devices and the available evidence on the impact of digital activities on their well-being. It also highlights the main challenges that a whole-of-government approach must address to improve child well-being in the digital age. Additionally, the chapter discusses the need for an expanded evidence base to ensure that policies draw on all available expertise, helping children navigate the digital environment safely while harnessing its opportunities.
How's Life for Children in the Digital Age?
Report
Edited by OECD
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1. Introduction and main findings
Copy link to 1. Introduction and main findingsAbstract
Today's children are transitioning from childhood to adulthood in an era of rapid digital transformation, where many aspects of their lives and society are being profoundly transformed. In recent years, digital media,1 including online communication platforms and applications accessed via smartphones, tablets and computers have become increasingly prominent in their lives. The fast progression of technology is best exemplified by access to the Internet, which has – over the course of a single generation – become considerably more widespread. In 2005, about half of all households in OECD countries had Internet access; by 2023, this figure had risen to 92% (OECD.Stat, 2023[1]). In 2022, the PISA survey estimated that around 97% of 15-year-old students in OECD countries lived in households with an Internet connection, up from 85% in 2009. Similar growth is seen in the PIRLS data: 93% of 10-year-olds had an Internet connection in 2021, compared with 85% a decade earlier.
Children are introduced to screens at a fairly young age and their screen time increases rapidly as they get older. Screen time encompasses a number of media digital activities, which are in constant evolution including their increasingly personalised, interactive and immersive feature.2 Although data on young children’s contact with digital devices are pretty limited, a European survey estimates that children typically begin interacting with digital technology by the age of two (Chaudron, Gioia and Gemo, 2018[2]). The few data available suggest that the use of screens increases rapidly in the early years of life. The OECD International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study found that most five-year-olds (83%) in England, Estonia, and the United States used a digital device at least once a week and 42% did so on a daily basis (OECD, 2020[3]). Children’s screen time intensifies from the start of secondary school. A 2024 survey in France estimates that the average screen time is 2h03 per day for 7-12-year-olds, jumping to 2h55 for 13-15-year-olds and 5h10 for 16-19-year-olds (Benyamina and Mouton, 2024[4]).
As the digital world develops and becomes more sophisticated, it offers children an ever-expanding range of opportunities to learn, access information, discover unknown facets of the world, as well as to play and interact with others online (Burns and Gottschalk, 2019[5]; OECD, 2021[6]; Christakis and Hale, 2025[7]). At the same time, the digital world comes with risks for children’s well-being. Children often lack the knowledge and skills needed to navigate its environment safely and may not fully anticipate nor understand the consequences of their online actions or the true intent behind certain content or interactions. Children can also be exposed to content that is inappropriate for their age (OECD, 2022[8]; 2021[6]). There is also concern that some children may become overly reliant on digital tools, leading to reduced physical play and face-to-face interactions. There is a concern that such overuse could have harmful effects on their physical health and mental well-being.3
Despite the increasing number of studies documenting children’s use of digital devices and its impact on various aspects of child well-being, many questions remain including because digital technologies and platform evolve very fast. Based on existing evidence, digital technologies and media4 influence many facets of children lives, with effects that can be positive and negative, depending on a number of complex factors such as the amount of screen time and the type of digital activity. Focusing on "screen time" taken as a whole can be misleading because it overlooks the diverse ways children use screens. This catchall term tends to lump all activities into a single category, which hinders efforts to target support for identifying and addressing problematic or risky online behaviours (Livingstone, 2023[9]). For this reason, it is important to consider also the type of digital activity, whether it is passive or active; the age of the child; the extent to which devices are used by peers, parents and the community surrounding children and how these and other contextual factors impact on children’s engagement and practices with digital resources (Navarro and Tudge, 2023[10]; John and Bates, 2024[11]; Magis-Weinberg, Ballonoff Suleiman and Dahl, 2021[12]). In addition, the causal relationship between the use of digital devices and psychological well-being is complex and is not yet fully understood. Studies suggest that this relationship is possibly bidirectional, with children who are psychologically more vulnerable more likely to develop addictive or hard-to-control behaviours regarding their use of digital devices.
Last but not least, the actual digital environment to which each child is exposed is unique and profoundly unequal. This is because all children do not have the same protective factors and resources to help them make the most of digital technologies and media and mitigate the related risks.5 For example, children from higher socio-economic backgrounds use digital tools for information-seeking and educational purposes more often than their less advantaged peers (Micheli, 2015[13]; Weber and Becker, 2019[14]). Findings from a meta-analysis also indicate that higher socio-economic status is associated with greater digital literacy, although the socio-economic gap may be weaker than those in mathematics or reading literacy (Scherer and Siddiq, 2019[15]). Socio-economic disparities can impact children's confidence in using digital devices and developing digital literacy. Children with lower digital skills, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, may experience increased stress and develop negative attitudes towards digital technologies and media, which can hinder their motivation to improve these skills (Burns and Gottschalk, 2019[5]; Büchi and Hargittai, 2022[16]; Robinson et al., 2020[17]).
Against the growing yet fast-evolving evidence on how children's digital practices impact their well-being and development, the large presence of screens in children's lives feeds concerns and fears, particularly among parents (Chong, Teo and Shorey, 2023[18]; Livingstone and Blum-Ross, 2020[19]; OECD, 2024[20]). Parents are generally anxious about the amount of time children and teenagers spend playing video games, surfing the Internet, and using social media applications, over which they have limited control. Children’s digital practices can also be an important source of parent-child conflict.
Completely banning screens, certain digital devices, or media – such as smartphones or access to social media – has been proposed in some jurisdictions – including recently in Australia – as a precautionary measure to protect children under a certain age. However, access to digital services and devices is already deeply integrated into children's lives from a young age, making it difficult to reverse the trends, and raising questions about the effectiveness of such measures (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2024[21]). Banning digital devices entirely is also not ideal as children need to develop the digital skills essential for their future personal and professional lives. Such bans also fail to address children’s and adolescents’ expressed need for online protection, while also ignoring the support children can receive from parents and/or trusted adults to help them navigate the digital world safely (Phippen, 2024[22]; Phippen and Street, 2022[23]).
Against this background, promoting children's well-being in the digital environment and addressing related inequalities requires recognition of the various ways in which the digital world can directly and indirectly impact children’s health and well-being. This necessitates a global approach to child well-being in the digital world, encompassing multiple aspects such as physical and mental health, cognitive development and learning outcomes, and socio-emotional well-being aspects such as agency, self-actualisation, social connectedness, and pro-social behaviour. Additionally, it is essential to consider the personal, family, and school circumstances that influence children's online practices and outcomes, as well as the role of institutional and policy contexts in shaping opportunities and risks in the digital world.
This report contributes to the current discussion by reviewing the available evidence and data to understand and monitor the well-being of children in the digital world – holistically – at a cross-national level. Building on the existing OECD Recommendation on Children in the Digital Environment (OECD, 2021[6]), the report explores the challenges of creating an institutional framework to promote safety and well-being in the digital age. It stresses the need to build a better understanding of the interplay between children’s offline lives, their digital practices, and well-being outcomes. This includes identifying factors in children’s personal circumstances and in their off-line environment that contribute to risks of excessive time spent online or to the development of problematic behaviours and conducts.
At a policy level, the report highlights the need for evidence-based regulations and cross-sectoral government action in response to the widespread use of digital media by children, advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence, and immersive experiences that offer both opportunities and risks. Effective measures are required to protect children in the digital and the school environments, ensuring that the responsibility for protection and fostering health digital practices does not place un undue burden on parents and children. There is also a need for clear guidance to assist educators, parents, and caregivers in helping children manage their engagement with digital technologies, develop digital skills, establish appropriate limits and recommendations, and fulfil children’s expressed desire for protection and support without being excluded from key areas of the digital environment, such as social media. These actions should be evidence-based, informed by research, and the expertise of professionals and caregivers, addressing vulnerabilities and strategies to mitigate harm.
The rest of the present chapter offers an overview the main findings of the report. The second chapter presents the comprehensive approach used to identify the key aspects that influence children's digital well-being, as well as to capture the opportunities and risks they encounter in the digital world. It underscores the importance of considering not only the opportunities and risks within the digital environment but also the broader context of children's lives – including offline factors that shape their digital behaviours – in order to gain full understanding of their engagement with digital media and its association with well-being. The third chapter examines the how children use digital devices and what can be learned on their engagement with digital media from the available cross-national data. It also considers the risks children encounter online. Chapter 4 examines the current evidence on the impact of children’s digital activities on well-being, namely physical health, learning and cognitive development, and psychological well-being and mental health. Next, the discussion focuses on key challenges that countries may consider when developing global actions to foster children's well-being in the digital age (Chapter 5). The final chapter discusses how to improve data-based evidence on children's digital well-being to better understand its drivers and enable countries to monitor it (Chapter 6).
Based on the analysis of large-scale surveys of young adolescents,6 our key findings are as follows:
1.1. How children use digital devices
Copy link to 1.1. How children use digital devicesIn 2022, access to the digital environment was almost universal, with an average of 96% of 15-year-olds in the OECD having access via desktop computer, laptop, or tablet at home. On average, 98% had a smartphone with an Internet connection. By the age of around 10, approximately 70% of children already have their own smartphone, although major disparities exist between countries, from only 29% in Türkiye and 40% in France, but more than 90% of 10-year-olds in Latvia, Poland, and the European Nordic countries.
At least 50% of 15-year-olds in most OECD countries spent 30 hours or more per week using digital devices. Japan stands out with a significantly lower proportion (31%) of 15-year-olds doing so, and a much higher proportion spending as little as 10 hours per week. A significant minority of these teenagers, ranging from 10% in Japan to 43% in Latvia, spent 60 hours or more on digital devices.
The time 15-year-olds spent using digital devices just for leisure often exceeded the two-hour per day screen time limit recommended by health organisations in a few OECD countries, including Australia, Germany, and the United States. On average, 60% of 15-year-olds in the OECD spent two hours or more per weekday on digital devices for leisure activities, in addition to time spent for learning. Again, significant variations exist between countries, from 24% in Japan to 81% in Estonia.
Across the OECD, 95% of 15-year-olds browsed the Internet and social networks for fun. Most used digital devices for communication and sharing content (88%), seeking practical information (84%), and playing video games (83%). A smaller but still high percentage (69%) created or edited their own digital content, with notable variations between countries.
Child well-being in the digital age primarily depends on the activities, practices, and connections children develop in the digital environment, as well as on the design and delivery of the digital services themselves. These activities interact with many factors, including the resources and protective factors children get from their family, school, trusted peers and adults in their social network. Consequently, online inequalities tend to reflect offline disparities, and not all children have equal opportunities to leverage digital resources or manage risks threatening their well-being, including physical and mental health, cognitive development, and learning outcomes.
1.2. How digital activities impact child well-being
Copy link to 1.2. How digital activities impact child well-beingDigital technologies and media offer children numerous opportunities to learn, play, connect with friends, and gain gradually independence. However, excessive or problematic use of digital technologies7 raises concerns about negative impacts on their health, learning ability, and well-being. A substantial body of evidence suggests that excessive screen time may negatively impact several aspects of the physical health of children and adolescents, including sleep quantity and quality, adolescents’ physical activity, and risk of overweight and obesity. The evidence is less clear-cut regarding possible eyesight problems, such as the development of myopia and potential risks to the retina from blue light exposure. Nevertheless, given the potential severity of harm to adolescents' health and wellbeing, pre-emptive action is needed.
In the early years, active engagement with digital devices, such as e-books, when accompanied by interactive involvement from parents and caregivers, can promote emerging literacy, verbal skills, and language development. However, excessive and passive screen exposure can negatively impact neurocognitive development due to the brain's high plasticity and vulnerability, particularly during the early years.
Especially for school-age children and teenagers, digital resources offer opportunities to learn and create: 84% of 15-year-olds across the OECD spend 2 hours or more per week using digital devices to learn something outside of school (including by consulting tutorials or using educational applications). More girls (87%) than boys (81%) use digital resources for over two hours per week to learn outside of school. Teenagers from high socio-economic backgrounds are twelve percentage points more likely to use digital resources for learning purposes than their peers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Around seven out of ten 15-year-old students use digital resources during leisure time to create or edit personal digital content, such as pictures, videos, music, or computer programs. Adolescents with a migrant background (76%) are consistently more likely to engage in these activities than their native peers (68%).
Digital platforms, online games, social media apps, and other digital services offer children numerous opportunities for enjoyment and getting support, providing easy access to information, discreetly answering their questions, and offering online support not available offline. Social media allows them to connect with peers, share ideas, seek moral support, and engage in meaningful social interactions. Social media may offer opportunities to form connections: across the OECD, on average 40% of adolescents aged 11 to 15 are in regular contact through social media with friends they met online. However, the enjoyment and benefits for socio-emotional well-being of digital tools are maximised with moderate use. The debate revolves around whether children's exposure to digital media is significantly altering their cognitive and emotional development and contributing to the rise in mental health issues among youth.
Digital media can pose risks to children and adolescents' mental health through direct pathways, such as reduced in-person social connection, exposure to harmful or idealised online content, and online abuse or bullying, as well as secondary effects like sleep deprivation and decreased physical activity, which can exacerbate mental health challenges. However, evidence linking digital technology use directly to mental health problems is not definitive including because it relies on limited, partly inappropriate sources of evidence. Population-based research often shows only moderate effects and is mainly correlational, lacking clear causal relationships. While some studies suggest negative impacts, others indicate some positive or no effects for the majority of adolescents. Nevertheless, a minority of adolescents may be vulnerable to negative impacts on their well-being due to excessive or problematic use of digital media and “hyperconnectivity” – i.e. the constant, often overwhelming, access to and interaction with digital media:
(i) Around 27% of 15-year-olds across the OECD report playing video games for at least three hours on a weekday; 8% of boys (compared with 3% of girls) spend at least seven hours on a typical weekday playing video games, with this proportion reaching 12% on weekend days. Adolescents from low socio-economic families are more than twice as likely as their most affluent peers to play for seven hours or more on a typical day.
(ii) On a typical weekday, 65% of 15-year-old girls and 55% of boys spend three hours or more on social media.8 This high level of use is prevalent among 15-year-olds from all socio-economic backgrounds, but it is more common among those from lower socio-economic status (64%) compared to those from higher socio-economic status (54%).
(iii) Across the OECD, roughly 35% of teenagers aged 11 to 15 report being almost constantly in online contact with friends and/or relatives throughout the day. The likelihood of constant online interaction rises with age, from 29% among 11-year-olds to 38% among 15-year-olds. Girls (38%) are more likely to maintain constant contact than boys (31%), and adolescents from one-parent families (37%) are slightly more inclined to do so compared to those from two-parent families (33%).
(iv) In 2021-22, around 10% of adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 across the OECD report experiencing problematic use of social media,9 up from less than 7% in 2017-18. Girls (12%) are again more often exposed to this type of problem than boys (8%), and children with a migrant background (14%) are more exposed than native born (10%). Additionally, adolescents from one-parent families (12%) report problematic social media use more frequently than those from two-parent families (9%).
(v) Approximately 16% of 11-years-old and 20% of 15 years-old adolescents using social media across the OECD reported that they regularly neglected other activities (e.g. hobbies, sport) because they wanted to use social media.
(vi) Approximately 17% of 15-year-old teenagers report feeling anxious or nervous at least half the time when they are without their digital devices. In nearly every country across the OECD, girls (22%) are significantly more likely than boys (13%) to experience this anxiety.
Digital technologies have transformed how children communicate, offering both benefits and new risks, particularly for mental health. Online interactions often involve anonymity, disembodiment, and disinhibition, leading to negative behaviours such as cyberbullying, excessive Internet use, and problematic social media use, with immersive technologies potentially amplifying these effects (OECD, 2024[24]).
Online friendships and social media can enhance adolescents' sense of companionship, particularly for socially isolated teens, by providing platforms for support, maintaining distant connections, and fostering online-exclusive friendships. While some studies suggest a small negative relationship between social media use and social connection, methodological limitations complicate conclusions, and specific social experiences, such as peer feedback, can have varied impacts. For instance, social media can reduce loneliness when used to strengthen existing relationships or build new connections but may increase it when used as an escape. It also offers marginalised groups, including LGBTQIA+ youth, valuable opportunities for identity exploration, peer support, and community building, though emotional investment in such platforms can sometimes exacerbate feelings of loneliness and stigma. Additionally, social media can serve as a resource for mental health peer support, though its effects on well-being remain complex and context dependent.
Research on children’s Internet use highlights challenges in measuring activity-specific impacts, often focusing on overall use and its links to well-being. Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is associated with negative outcomes like depression, anxiety, loneliness, strained relationships, and reduced academic performance, with some evidence suggesting that poor mental health may also contribute to PIU. Gender differences show boys may experience stronger links between PIU and loneliness, potentially due to usage patterns like gaming, while family adversity, such as maltreatment or parental conflict, increases the risk of PIU as adolescents turn to online spaces for escape. For instance, approximately 46% of adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 (respectively 36% of boys and 55% of girls) using social media reported across the OECD in 2022 that they often used social media to escape from negative feelings. Parental mediation shows mixed results: while content-based rules are more effective at reducing PIU, strict time limits may provoke rebellion or withdrawal symptoms. These findings underline the complexity of PIU’s relationship with well-being and the importance of nuanced approaches to mitigating its risks.
Video games, like social media, are designed to maximise engagement, making children particularly vulnerable to persuasive features that encourage prolonged use, potentially leading to problematic gaming behaviours that affect personal and social well-being. Boys are more prone to gaming disorders10 and girls to problematic social media and mobile phone use. Studies reveal that a significant minority of adolescents struggle with excessive video gaming, often reporting stress or anxiety when unable to access these activities. Certain game genres, particularly immersive ones like Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, Real-Time Strategy Games, are strongly associated with gaming disorders. Additionally, structural features of games, such as in-game rewards that trigger dopamine release and the unpredictability of these rewards, play a key role in reinforcing prolonged gaming sessions and sustaining gaming disorders. Family dynamics, including neglectful, authoritarian, permissive parenting styles are also associated with higher levels of gaming disorders.
Research shows that excessive social media use, especially beyond two hours a day, is linked to negative mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, body image concerns, and poor sleep, with girls often being more affected. Factors such as social comparison, exposure to idealised images, and cyberbullying increase the likelihood of a negative association between social media use and subjective well-being. The impact of social media varies based on content type, with positive content linked to better well-being and negative content exacerbating mental health issues. Social media use can also lead to addiction-like behaviours and social media-induced stress, particularly among vulnerable adolescents, such as those with minoritised identities or those facing offline vulnerabilities. While social media offers benefits like online support communities, it can also heighten feelings of isolation and worsen mental health, particularly when used for comparison or as an escape from real-world interactions. Personality traits and individual motivations for social media use also shape the extent of these effects.
Many personal and environmental factors or experiences in the non-digital world can predispose children to excessive use of digital technologies. For instance, a lack of interest in physical activity, behavioural problems, weak social connections, family-based adversity factors, such as child maltreatment, and parental conflicts and poor parenting, or low psychological well-being are factors associated with intensive and/or problematic use of digital devices. Moreover, a bidirectional dynamic can link adolescents' problematic use of digital tools with their subjective well-being, exacerbating the impact of pre-existing vulnerabilities. For instance, social media can be used by adolescents to develop interpersonal interactions and combat feelings of loneliness. However, some evidence suggests that, although engaging with social media and online interactions can help temper negative feelings, the effect may dissipate and be associated with increased negative emotions and loneliness, and more intense use of digital devices the next day.
Adolescents who navigate the digital space often have negative experiences: over a third of 15-year-olds (36%) report they got upset when encountering age-inappropriate content online, 42% were upset by receiving offending messages, over half (53%) were upset by discriminatory content, and nearly 40% of adolescents are affected by information about them being shared without their consent. Across the OECD, girls report such experiences substantially more frequently than boys.
Adolescents' exposure to cyberbullying is increasing in all OECD countries: on average, one in six 11 to 15-year-olds report experiences of cyberbullying in 2021-22, with significant variation across countries. Girls and adolescents from single-parent families are more likely to be victims in most countries. However, in Slovenia, Israel, Lithuania, and Türkiye, boys report higher rates of cyberbullying than girls. A significant minority of younger children (around 5% of 10-year-olds) also report being victims of cyberbullying, with this risk being twice as high in countries like Belgium and Brazil. Cyberbullying is also more prevalent among children from low socio-economic status families (7%) compared to those from high socio-economic status families.
Slightly more than 10% of teenagers aged 11 to 15 years report having engaged in cyberbullying, with boys (13%) more frequently involved than girls (8%). This behaviour is also slightly less frequent among children from two-parent families (10%) than others (14%).
The influence of contextual factors highlights the need for a nuanced approach to understanding how social media affects adolescent mental health, particularly in groups of children where negative impacts are stronger, like older adolescents, females, and those with pre-existing mental health issues. A better understanding of protective factors, including active coping strategies, supportive offline relationships, and family environments, is needed to help mitigate the negative effects of cyberbullying and online harassment.
1.3. How to enhance child well-being in the digital age
Copy link to 1.3. How to enhance child well-being in the digital ageTo enhance child well-being in the digital age, it is essential to have a broad understanding of the benefits and risks associated with the digital environment, along with a strong legal and policy framework that ensures comprehensive protection and support for all children (OECD, 2021[6]).
Beyond time spent on screens, policy makers, parents, and educators should be aware that digital technologies affect children and adolescents in different ways:
(i) Globally, girls are more likely to use social media intensively and report being more often affected by exposure to inappropriate content or hate speech. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to engage in risky digital behaviours: they tend to spend excessive amounts of time playing video games, enable notifications on their devices when they go to bed, participate in cyberbullying, and more frequently to recklessly share online information they know to be untrue.
(ii) Adolescents from low socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to use digital resources for learning outside school or for seeking practical information. They have a significantly higher risk of spending excessive time on video games, are less likely to change privacy settings, and are more likely to leave digital tool notifications on when going to sleep.
(iii) Promoting the dissemination of best practices to manage risks and enhance the benefits for children's learning and well-being can also help reduce the socio-economic inequalities affecting children's and adolescents' online behaviours.
(iv) Children's use and engagement with digital technologies and media depend not only on protections within the online environment but also on offline factors and life circumstances that can either serve as protective influences or create vulnerabilities. These factors can shape the likelihood of digital behaviours and either mitigate or amplify their impact on well-being. Understanding the interplay between offline life and digital behaviours is essential for better preventing potentially harmful practices and mitigating their effects on well-being.
Children should be safeguarded from harm in digital spaces and supported in using digital media beneficially, while also managing potential risks. This responsibility cannot rest solely on adolescents and caregivers. A coordinated, multisectoral and whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach is essential to address all aspects of children's involvement in the digital world, including technological development, health, education, family support, and justice, coherently (OECD, 2021[6]). This requires developing a shared understanding of the benefits and risks associated with child well-being in the digital environment. This understanding should leverage the expertise of various groups, including digital device developers, digital world stakeholders, health professionals, educators, child development experts, and parents, and align with children's views and expectations. Such a collaborative effort can yield a balanced understanding of both the benefits and risks of digital media and base digital policies on solid evidence to enhance learning and well-being outcomes.
Strengthening policies around digital media does not require it to be the sole or primary cause of mental health issues, nor does it need to directly improve mental health to justify intervention. Even as one of many contributing factors, regulating digital media use may be warranted. The impact of digital media varies depending on usage patterns, motivations, and interactions, which are challenging to measure with current tools, particularly in extreme cases like exposure to harmful content about suicidality. Understanding the interplay between digital behaviour and pre-existing vulnerabilities is crucial, as is incorporating insights from professionals, parents, and young people – especially those involved in severe cases – to identify vulnerability factors and underlying dynamics.
Healthy digital practices for children include balanced screen time, safe and positive online interactions, participation in offline activities like play and exercise, and protection from harmful or inappropriate content. Helping children develop such practices is essential for their well-being and rights during childhood, while also preparing them for life online as adults and equipping them with the digital skills needed for adulthood. Managing risks associated with digital technologies and media for children involves promoting offline well-being and addressing real-life vulnerabilities that may lead to the development of problematic digital habits.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant potential to advance well-being, from supporting the analysis of medical data, to supporting learning and making knowledge more accessible to students of all ages. At the same time, AI also involves risks to both well-being and inclusion, such as the amplification of bias and discrimination, erosion of privacy, fraud, and exposure to inappropriate content. AI-generated deepfakes can produce highly realistic yet fake images or videos, which may be used for bullying or exploiting children. Moreover, the lack of transparency and accountability in AI systems can foster unethical behaviour, as identifying the source of harmful content or actions becomes challenging. Additionally, AI-driven content recommendation algorithms may expose children to inappropriate materials or online communities that increase their risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm, or engagement in unethical activities. Further research is required to confirm and assess the extent of these risks.
Similarly, Virtual Reality (VR) offers significant opportunities and challenges for children due to their developmental plasticity. Positive uses include enhanced learning, pain management, and applications in child psychiatry. However, risks involve physiological issues like motion sickness and eye strain, as well as mental health concerns, isolation, and exposure to harmful content. VR's immersive nature can blur the line between virtual and real experiences, particularly for younger children, and fast-paced content may hinder cognitive and executive skill development. To reduce these risks, it is essential to ensure adult supervision, set time limits, and incorporate regular breaks when using VR technologies.
OECD countries are strengthening policies to protect children online, promote digital education, and address risks such as cyberbullying, false information, and data privacy concerns. The OECD Recommendation on Children in the Digital Environment provides guidance for creating frameworks that safeguard children, promote well-being, empower participation, and mitigate risks (OECD, 2021[6]). It advocates for a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach, leveraging diverse expertise and aligning policies with children's needs and expectations, while also aiming to ensure coordinated efforts among key stakeholders like governments, service providers, educators, and families. This report explores the challenges involved in implementing and strengthening policies related to the four pillars of such a comprehensive policy approach:
Implementing effective regulatory frameworks and developing technologies and services that prioritise child safety
Ensuring child safety in the digital environment is a critical priority, with digital service providers playing a key role in safeguarding children online with obligations to respect privacy, combat the diffusion of inappropriate content, and provide clear, accessible reporting mechanisms for children facing issues, along with well-defined enforcement mechanisms. These measures are essential to prevent the burden of protecting children online from falling solely on children, their caregivers, and educators.
Governments are responsible for establishing regulations and standards that digital service providers must adhere to and can also encourage the incorporation of protective measures into the design of digital services and devices.
Embedding protective measures into the design and functionality of digital products and services from the outset is essential to safeguarding children effectively and fostering a culture of child safety across the board. Key measures include implementing default privacy settings, content filters to prevent exposure to false information, inappropriate content, and hate speech, and parental controls, as well as reinforcing age assurance systems that are simple for children and their caregivers to understand and use. Additionally, establishing complaint mechanisms that allow children to report and resolve issues, and involving them in safety discussions ensures their needs are adequately addressed. This approach is especially important given that only 53% of 15-year-olds report that they can easily adjust device or app settings to protect their data and privacy. It also aligns with children's desire to be protected in the digital world while maintaining a high level of autonomy.
Establishing codes and standards for digital service providers is crucial for evaluating risks to children and implementing effective protections, particularly as AI advancements and the growth of immersive media amplify these risks. For example, Australia's Online Safety Act mandates safeguards against harmful content, such as child sexual abuse material and pro-terrorism content, requiring compliance from tech companies, including those using generative AI, with penalties for violations. However, codes alone may be insufficient without rapid enhancements in design, filters, and moderation by digital providers. Some jurisdictions, like Australia, have considered banning social media access for children under 16 to address these concerns, though such measures face challenges in enforceability, potential circumvention, and implications for children’s rights and digital participation. Critics also argue that such bans may shift responsibility away from tech companies, while advocates see them as a political lever to pressure digital service providers into creating safer online spaces.
Cross-sectoral collaboration is essential for addressing the complex challenges of the digital environment for children, requiring integrative “whole-of-government” policy frameworks. In 2023, nearly one-third of European countries have national action plans for children in the digital environment. Notable examples include Norway’s National Strategy for a Safe Digital Upbringing and Slovakia’s National Strategy on the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment, which demonstrate effective coordination among multiple ministries to comprehensively address child well-being issues related to the digital environment. Successful implementation requires clear leadership, institutional procedures, timelines, monitoring tools, and data-driven reporting. However, most countries lack a central coordinating body or formalised plans with defined responsibilities and key performance indicators, posing challenges in governance, accountability, and achieving policy goals.
Promoting digital literacy and skills among children, with schools and teachers playing a crucial role in empowering them
Teachers, schools, and education systems play a crucial role in helping children develop digital literacy and citizenship11 skills, understand digital risks, and manage problematic situations online. They can also help raise awareness among parents about the risks associated with excessive screen time, video games, and intensive use of social media. This support is especially important for children without parental or familial guidance in digital spaces. To further these efforts, teachers need adequate training in ICT skills to overcome their lack of knowledge and confidence in using digital tools. Schools can help prevent cyber risks by incorporating guidance into curricula and promoting collaboration among teachers, principals, and school psychologists to detect and respond to cyberbullying and cyber trauma.
Schools also face the challenge of preventing mobile phones from disrupting learning. Banning phones in class can reduce distractions and improve focus, but enforcing these bans outside the classroom is difficult. Allowing local adjustments to manage the bans can make them more effective. Moreover, the evidence on the impact of banning phones in schools on students' academic performance and well-being remains inconclusive. While some studies suggest that restricting smartphone use can improve academic outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged students, the findings are mixed, with some research showing no benefits or even negative effects due to increased anxiety from phone restrictions. Similarly, evidence on the impact of phone bans on students’ well-being, mental health, and bullying is inconsistent, with some studies reporting positive outcomes and others finding no impact or increased anxiety and victimization. Due to the limited number of studies, the evidence is not comprehensive enough to determine which policies are most effective in promoting overall student well-being or addressing the needs of children across different age groups.
Providing guidance to parents and caregivers to help them understand and manage the benefits and risks of children's digital device use
Parents are essential in guiding children towards safe and enriching practices in the digital environment. They set rules for using digital technologies and media and may help children develop the skills to navigate the digital environment.
Parenting strategies for managing children's digital media use should adapt as children age. Younger children require strict rules and supervision, while adolescents may benefit from more flexible guidelines and open discussions. As children grow, they need more autonomy, along with guidance on maintaining healthy media habits that foster learning and creativity. At all stages, it is important for parents to engage in conversations about digital media use and model healthy habits.
However, not all parents have the same experience with digital devices, the same knowledge of the opportunities they offer and the risks involved, or the large time resources needed. Passing on this information and providing guidance on best practice for managing screen time and content is crucial for fostering healthier screen habits in children. For instance, reduced screen exposure in the evening, and screen-free time before bed, and keeping smartphones outside of children’s bedrooms at night are good habits that can be promoted to foster healthier sleep habits in children. Parental supervision of the content accessed by children is also important and can potentially be less conflictual than solely enforcing time restrictions.
Although parental control functions in digital tools can help parents set boundaries and guide children’s online exploration, their use presents risks, including a false sense of security, overly controlling behaviour, and children avoiding responsibility for their own learning and growth. Additionally, parental controls may shift responsibility onto parents, limiting their ability to make meaningful changes to services beyond basic access decisions. Critics argue that digital service providers should focus on designing safer services rather than relying on parental controls.
Parents' active involvement in children’s digital activities is also crucial in ensuring that young children benefit from digital tools. It can be promoted, as suggested, for instance by the Canadian Paediatric Society, with practices such as being present and engaged during screen time, co-viewing to promote digital literacy, prioritising educational and interactive content, and monitoring media use to limit exposure to advertising. Additionally, families could consider creating a media plan to agree on healthy digital practices and encourage older siblings to mentor younger children in their digital use.
Media use plans that involve all family members can be particularly helpful in encouraging parents to reflect on their own habits, as research shows that parents' use of digital devices can interfere with their parenting, leading to "distracted" behaviour and less attention and responsiveness to their children's expressions and actions. Therefore, family media plans can address both children's and parents' media use, such as by establishing device-free zones – like the dinner table – to foster healthier interactions. When media use plans involve the entire family, rather than focusing solely on children, they are also more likely to be accepted and respected by the children.
Ensuring that children’s views and experiences are reflected in the design of digital policies
Incorporating the views and experiences of children and adolescents into the definition of digital policies is essential to ensure decisions address the risks they experience, respect their expectations – including their desire for autonomy – and can be effectively implemented. This requires participatory processes to be in place for children to be consulted and have their views represented when policy options are debated and adopted. It is also important to represent children from disadvantaged backgrounds, to remove obstacles such as time constraints, geographic access, limited availability of digital devices for online consultations, and to provide language support for non-native speakers.
Involving young people in consultations about digital matters is becoming more common, although countries vary in how they engage children in shaping digital environment policies. Some countries have dedicated structures for active participation, while others gather input through surveys or existing data. A survey in Europe found that over half of the countries directly involve children in policy development, using methods like consultations and specific surveys. Countries such as Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Slovenia have established structures for active child participation, with examples like Ireland's Youth Advisory Committee, which advises on policies like the online safety code. At the European level, the Better Internet for Kids' Youth Programme provides a platform for young people to share their views on making the Internet safer for children.
Consultations with adolescents highlight their desire to be protected but not excluded from the digital environment, and get truthful, clear, and child-friendly information about how digital services work and data privacy. They want digital platforms to stop exploiting them commercially, collecting data, and exposing them to false and harmful content. Additionally, they wish for greater trust and autonomy from parents, to be better informed about the benefits and risks of digital technologies and media.
Expanding the evidence base on children’s digital activities and its association with well-being
Enhancing data and statistics on the impact of digital transformation on people's well-being is central to the digital policies of countries and to the roadmap suggested by the OECD to guide this transformation (OECD, 2022[25]). Children should be covered in this exercise.
The available evidence on how children engage with digital technologies and media and what is the impact of that on their well-being is scant and not always conclusive. Globally, there is a lack of data to accurately capture the time spent on screens and digital activities, the content of those activities, and to assess the impact of screen exposure and use on children of all ages. For instance, it is very difficult to find reliable, comparable, especially longitudinal data that allows for connecting screen time, digital media use, and content with well-being and mental health outcomes. Longitudinal data would also help explore further the determinants and lasting effects of the time spent on and type of engagement with various digital technologies and media.
Tracking the time children spend on screens or engaging with digital media, alongside activities like reading, physical exercise, and other leisure activities, is essential for understanding shifts in their daily use of time. It also helps assess whether the presence of digital technologies in children’s lives is increasing and potentially displacing other activities. Beyond evaluating the direct impact of screen time on well-being, such data are crucial to determining whether digital activities come at the cost of other activities more surely linked to aspects of children's well-being.
A stronger focus on data collection regarding the quality of engagement can support evidence-based policies, ensuring that digital technologies are understood and leveraged to promote well-being. This requires moving beyond simplistic screen-time metrics, which overlook the key factors that determine whether digital engagement supports or hinders children's lives. Understanding how and why children engage with digital media – and how it integrates into their lives – can provide deeper insight into its impact on well-being. This is essential for moving beyond simplistic narratives that label digital technologies and media as universally "good" or "bad".
Recent waves of the PISA, PIRLS, and HBSC surveys have helped document adolescents' digital skills and practices. These surveys are used to develop around 40 indicators covering Internet and digital device access, digital technology use, online social interactions, at-risk digital practices and attitudes, negative online experiences, and protective behaviours and environments. However, significant data gaps on children's digital practices and well-being remain. Filling these gaps can help improve countries' capacity to monitor children's digital well-being, including with:
(i) Data on young children's screen exposure and use. There is a need to gather data for younger children, as research indicates that early screen exposure could impact their early motor and cognitive development. It is also crucial to document how parents engage with children during their exposure to digital devices.
(ii) Information on how digital devices is used. Collecting more detailed information than what is currently available on the time spent using digital tools throughout the day is important to capture practices with higher risks. For example, screen time in the evening or just before nap time may have a potentially greater impact on sleep patterns and quality. Similarly, collecting information on the time spent by type of applications and platforms used by children and teenagers can help portray the risks they face online, given that not all applications or platforms offer equal levels of protection for children.
(iii) Data on positive experiences and benefits of children’s digital engagement. Data collection has primarily concentrated on the negative experiences and risks associated with using digital devices, while information on benefits has been limited to opportunities for learning or creating personal content. A broader range of potential benefits should be considered, such as whether children's digital engagement contributes to their community and civic participation, strengthens their personal, cultural, or religious identity, or helps them access information, networks, or services.
(iv) Information on children's perceptions of major risks. Data on children's perceptions and awareness of risks related to their physical or mental health from digital technology use, misinformation on the Internet or social networks, and the dissemination of inappropriate or commercial content, etc. could help measure the need for information and media education. It would also help identify the audience most likely to benefit from better information and support, and the key aspects to emphasise when designing support measures.
(v) Data on the support children can get in the family, at school or from their social network. Documenting the support children receive from their environment to navigate digital spaces safely and develop their digital skills is crucial to identify where needs lie primarily as well as to learn about good practices.
(vi) Data of children’s views and priorities. Considering children's perspectives and their priorities is crucial to aligning protection and support measures with their actual needs and practices. It ensures that these measures are in line with their desire to be safeguarded, educated, and equipped to manage risks, while also fostering their gradual autonomy in the digital realm.
Gathering comprehensive data to monitor children’s digital practices and their impact on well-being necessitates using a variety of data collection methods, each with distinct advantages. Integrating modules on children's digital experiences into established surveys like PISA and HBSC provides a cost-effective way to connect digital engagement with broader aspects covered in these surveys, such as academic performance or health. However, limitations in the number of questions that can be included on digital practices and well-being in these surveys highlight the need for dedicated surveys specifically focused on child digital well-being. Including information on parents' and children’s digital practices in longitudinal studies, such as birth cohort studies, is essential for documenting how digital dynamics shape developmental outcomes over time. Digital devices offer valuable real-time insights into children's daily usage patterns and responses to technological advancements. Lastly, observational data from field-based experiments, such as digital play interventions, can effectively document how children interact with digital technologies and how these interactions influence their emotional regulation and social interactions within their physical environment.
Monitoring children's digital practices and experiences is essential for creating effective policies that ensure their safe and beneficial use of digital resources. Countries can achieve this by analysing data from digital devices and services, conducting surveys on digital usage and attitudes, integrating questions on digital practices into existing surveys, and designing surveys within an international framework. While leveraging global data can reveal usage patterns and identify risks, significant evidence gaps remain. To address these, countries should strengthen their monitoring efforts by selecting or combining various data collection methods to better guide policy decisions.
The expertise of health and education professionals is essential for understanding the impact of digital practices on the well-being of vulnerable children. Health professionals, in particular, can pinpoint links between problematic digital use and physical or mental health challenges, especially in more severe instances. Educators contribute by observing the impact of digital habits on children’s attention spans, learning, and social interactions. Through their direct engagement with children and families, these experts help detect how digital practices are integrated into daily routines, affect sleep quality, and classroom behaviour, while also uncovering environmental dysfunctions. Additionally, they play a key role in documenting how to best prevent harms and develop coping strategies. Integrating their expertise to inform policies and programs to enhance children’s well-being in the digital age is therefore crucial.
Policymakers, clinicians, teachers, parents, and young people themselves require a clear and simplified understanding of the growing body of evidence as it emerges. The process of collating, filtering, and evaluating new research findings should be guided by well-defined criteria for assessing quality, causal relationships, generalisability, and relevance to policy, education, healthcare, and social care. An explicit hierarchy of evidence could be used to inform policy decisions and practitioners, based on an assessment of the robustness, reliability, and accessibility of research evidence for practical use in decision-making or policy implementation.
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Notes
Copy link to Notes← 1. Digital media refers to any content that is created, distributed, and accessed through digital technologies. It encompasses a broad range of formats and platforms, leveraging electronic devices like computers, smartphones, tablets, and the Internet. Digital media integrates various forms of communication, entertainment, and information, often characterised by interactivity, accessibility, and instant dissemination.
← 2. Screen time refers to the amount of time spent using devices with screens, such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and televisions, for activities including entertainment, communication, work, and learning. The rise in children's screen time is tied to technological advancements that make digital tools more pervasive in daily life – such as smartphones, which are portable and easily accessible – and to the growing prevalence of these devices among children.
The growing access to digital tools among children and their families expands the opportunities for children to engage in various types of digital media activities. These activities may include using digital platforms and devices for social media, video streaming, gaming, online communication, browsing, and educational tasks. Recent advancements in technology have further shaped the content of digital media to become more personalised, interactive, and immersive. This evolution is driven by the rise of algorithms, augmented and virtual reality, live streaming, user-generated content, and an increasing emphasis on short-form and visually rich formats like videos and virtual animations.
← 3. One of the most controversial claims on the impact of the digital environment on child well-being can be found in J. Haidt’s book on the “Anxious Generation”. The book claims that the increase in youth mental health issues coincides with the rise in children's and teenagers' access to digital tools, particularly in the case of the United States (Haidt, 2024[26]). According to Haidt, the spread of digital tools has displaced physical play and face-to-face social interaction, leading to a “rewired” childhood and fuelling an epidemic of mental illness among young people. excessive use of digital devices – smartphones, tablets, video games, and social media – negatively affects children and adolescents. Similarly, Desmurget (2022[27]) argues that screen exposure leads to reduced attention span, poorer academic performance, increased aggression, and weakened social and communication skills. However, the evidence for a direct causal link between the digital environment and deteriorations in child well-being remains limited, as does the claim that digital technologies are responsible for the brunt of mental health problems affecting younger generations (see chapter 4).
← 4. Digital technologies are the tools and systems enabling digital processes, while digital media is the content created and consumed using those technologies.
← 5. According to data from the European Union - Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), an average of 5.4% of children in Europe are “digitally deprived”, meaning they live in households that cannot afford a computer or an Internet connection for personal use at home (Ayllón, Holmarsdottir and Lado, 2023[29]). The way children engage with digital devices, learn to use them, and navigate the digital world is also unequal, as it depends on personal factors and various aspects of their environment, including their family's material resources and whether they have a supportive environment at home, at school, or in their social circles (Stoilova, Livingstone and Khazbak, 2021[28]; Büchi and Hargittai, 2022[16]; OECD, 2024[20]).
← 6. The key findings reflect the circumstances of young adolescents in 2021 or 2022, primarily based on data from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey of 15-year-olds and the 2021-2022 Health Behaviours of School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey of 11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds. The 38 OECD countries included in the PISA surveys are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, the HBSC survey does not cover Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, or Türkiye.
← 7. The term “excessive or problematic use of digital technologies” is used in the literature to describe situations where individuals find it difficult to manage their time spent online, feeling compelled to continue using devices even when aware that it interferes with daily responsibilities or well-being. However, no single definition of excessive use exists, and it can manifest in various forms, such as spending more than the recommended amount of time on screens (typically more than 2 hours per day for recreational use), frequent and constant social media use (e.g., checking or scrolling through platforms throughout the day, including during school hours, meals, or before bed), or staying up late using digital devices, resulting in insufficient or disrupted sleep patterns due to blue light exposure. Excessive use may also involve spending many hours playing video games to the extent of neglecting schoolwork, family time, or other important activities, sometimes without taking breaks. Additionally, it can include neglecting physical activity by prioritising screen-based activities over exercise or outdoor play, contributing to a sedentary lifestyle.
← 8. These estimates represent the share of 15-years old students who report in PISA 2022 survey that they “browse social networks” or “communicate and share digital content on social networks or any communication platform” for more than three hours or who report spending “between 1 and 3 hours a day” on both activities on a typical weekday.
← 9. Problematic social media use refers to engagement with social media that negatively impacts a person's well-being, relationships, and daily responsibilities, often involving compulsive checking, emotional distress, and neglect of other duties. In order to assess the incidence of problematic social media use, children were asked nine questions to test whether social media use over the past year negatively impacted aspects of their lives, such as preoccupation, dissatisfaction, emotional distress, failed attempts to reduce use, neglect of other activities, conflicts with others, dishonesty, using it to escape negative feelings, and family conflicts.
← 10. Gaming disorder is characterised by a pattern of excessive or compulsive video game use that interferes with daily life, affecting personal, social, and academic functioning, and often accompanied by a loss of control over gaming habits.
← 11. Digital citizenship refers to the responsible, ethical, and informed use of digital technologies to engage in online environments, communicate effectively, and contribute positively to the digital community.