Beyond the headlines: what research shows on children's online lives

Hear from the Government Chief Scientific Adviser about why understanding the balance between benefits and harms is key to a safe digital world that safeguards children.

Some 97 per cent of UK teenagers aged 13 to 15 now own a mobile phone: an impressive statistic, if not an entirely surprising one. By contrast, the fact that almost one-fifth of all UK children aged 3 to 5 also own a phone may raise eyebrows (Ofcom, 2025a).

Our kids are essentially immersed in digital, online worlds. Children aged 8 to 9, for example, spend an average of two hours per day online, rising to 4 hours for 13 to 14-year-olds – and this does not include time spent gaming (Ofcom, 2025b).

We’ve heard from children themselves that they do not experience a divide between their online and offline lives. Having access to phones helps them build and maintain friendships. Furthermore, we’ve heard time and again of children using social media to connect with communities who provide support that otherwise would not be there. More recently, some report using AI companions, which can support wellbeing and emotional regulation (Ho et al, 2025; Guingrich and Graziano, 2025).

However, this ability to connect comes hand in hand with risks: from harmful content to cyberbullying, to privacy breaches and exposure to false and misleading information. Meanwhile, children are confronting features such as unlimited scrolling, personalised algorithms and other features designed to be addictive at an age when they are still learning how to self-regulate.