Details: Internet Usage Among Children & Teens
- John O'Maley
- Mar 2
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 4
Parents Protecting Children, strongerfamiliesonline.org.
Newsletter #5
Details: Internet Usage Among Children & Teens
PART 1. THE ALARMING FACTS
Internet access has become universal for U.S. youth. By 2021, 97% of children ages 3–18 had internet access at home nces.ed.gov. Device use starts early – even 62% of parents of 3–4-year-olds report their child uses a smartphone or tablet. pewresearch.org. As children grow, online engagement skyrockets. Tweens (8–12 years) now average about 5½ hours of entertainment screen media daily, while teens (13–18) log 8½ hours per day. cassybayarea.org. This represents a rapid pandemic-era increase – teen screen time in 2021 was ~8 hours 39 minutes, up 30% since 2015, with tween screen time up ~21%. explodingtopics.com. Nearly 95% of teens have smartphones & 97% go online daily (46% “almost constantly”).pewresearch.org.
Younger kids are also online in large numbers via games, video apps & educational platforms – nine-in-ten tweens use social media or gaming apps (e.g., YouTube, Minecraft, Roblox) despite many platforms officially requiring age 13. pacer.org. 40% of 8–12-year-olds report using social media (often by lying about age). thereachinstitute.org. In short, American children are immersed in the online world from an early age, making it critical to address the risks that accompany such widespread use.
Key Online Risks for Ages 3–12 & 13–18
Children & teens face several major online safety risks: cyberbullying, online predators, exposure to inappropriate content, & data privacy threats. Recent research in the past two years highlights concerning statistics & trends in each area.
Cyberbullying & Online Harassment
Cyberbullying is pervasive among youth, especially teenagers. Nearly half (46%) of U.S. teens (13–17) have experienced at least one form of cyberbullying (e.g. offensive name-calling, spreading rumors, receiving unsolicited explicit images). pewresearch.org. About 28% of teens have faced multiple types of online harassment. pewresearch.org. Older teen girls are particularly vulnerable – 54% of girls 15–17 have been cyberbullied. pewresearch.org.
For younger children, bullying often begins in late elementary or middle school. One study found 20.9% of tweens (ages 9–12) have been directly involved in cyberbullying – either as victims, perpetrators, or witnesses. pacer.org. Still, purely online bullying is less common at that age (only 1% of tweens reported being bullied only online without in-person bullying).pacer.org. By high school, online harassment rises in frequency & can lead to serious mental health impacts. In 2021, one in four early teens (around 13 years old) had been cyberbullied in just the past month, a rate that peaked around ages 14–15 before slightly declining for 17-year-olds. cyberbullying.org
Recent cyberbullying victimization by age: incidence peaks around 14–15 years old
A quarter of 13-year-olds & over 27% of 14–15-year-olds reported being cyberbullied in the last 30 days, before the rate declines in later adolescence. Cyberbullying often overlaps with in-school bullying. About 14.5% of U.S. tweens said they had been bullied online, versus 50% bullied at school. pacer.org. Many tweens encounter bullying while gaming or on kids’ social apps & over 70% say it negatively affected their self-esteem & friendships. pacer.org.
For teens, platforms like social media magnify the reach of harassment – e.g., group chats spreading rumors or anonymous messages. Alarmingly, the incidence of cyberbullying jumped ~40% during the pandemic as youth spent more time online. cyberbullying.org. This trend underscores the need for vigilance: without intervention, online cruelty can contribute to depression, anxiety, & even self-harm among vulnerable young people. pacer.org.
Online Predators & Exploitation
The internet enables predatory adults to approach children under a veil of anonymity. Approximately 1 in 10 teens & about 1 in 11 tweens have encountered predatory behaviors online. enough.org.
Parental control analysis from 2021 found 9.95% of tweens & 20.5% of teens received online messages or contact from predators (sexual solicitations or grooming attempts) .enough.org. Predators often target early adolescents: law enforcement notes children ages 12–15 are especially susceptible to online grooming. childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro. At any given time, an estimated 500,000 predators are active online daily seeking contact with minors. childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro.
Tactics include posing as a peer on social media, flattery, & gradually sexualizing the conversation. childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro. If trust is gained, predators may pressure kids into sharing explicit photos or even meeting in person.
childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro. Disturbingly, over 25% of reported child online exploitation cases involve predators asking children for sexual images.childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro
A small but significant percentage – 4% of children – have experienced aggressive solicitations (e.g. an adult trying to arrange offline contact or phone calls).childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro. These interactions can lead to serious trauma or abuse. The scale of the threat has grown with kids’ increased screen time. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has seen record CyberTipline reports in recent years, & one study found 1 in 6 young adults were victimized by online sexual abuse as minors. enough.org.
Predators also exploit games & apps popular with children (like Roblox or Instagram) – any platform with chat can be misused. Parents are extremely concerned: 58% of U.S. parents worry about strangers online threatening their kids. childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro. Yet only 20% of children 8–11 are even aware of this danger, & many willingly remove privacy settings – 40% of kids do so to get more followers – not realizing it makes them easier targets. childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro.
This highlights a gap in education & the importance of parental oversight to prevent online enticement.
Exposure to Inappropriate Content
Children are frequently exposed to age-inappropriate content on the internet, often inadvertently. This includes pornography, violent or graphic material, hate speech, & self-harm or drug-related content. Over two-thirds of tweens (69%) & 90% of teens have encountered nudity or sexual content online. enough.org.
Many stumble upon it accidentally via innocuous searches or clicking misleading links. More than half of teens say they’ve unintentionally seen adult content by clicking ads or links.clickondetroit.com. In fact, the average age of first exposure to online pornography is just 12 years old, & 15% of kids have seen porn by age 10 or younger.clickondetroit.com. A 2022 Common Sense Media report found 73% of teens (13–17) have watched online pornography – confirming that most U.S. teens today have viewed explicit sexual material. prnewswire.com.
Critically, such content is often extreme: more than half of those teens (54%) had seen violent or abusive pornography.kslegislature.gov. which can distort their understanding of healthy relationships & sex. Even very young kids are not immune; in one survey, 75% of parents feared their child might encounter adult content, reflecting widespread concern.internetmatters.org
Beyond sexual content, kids also face other harmful media. Violent content is prevalent – e.g. 68% of tweens & 82% of teens have expressed or encountered violent subject matter online.enough.org. Hate speech & profanity are also common in online games & videos; a UK survey found nearly 50% of 6–12 year-olds had experienced swearing or rude language in online content. statista.com. Children may also seek out dangerous content: during the pandemic, reports of youth accessing self-harm communities & eating disorder content spiked (Bark found ~8% of teens viewed material on disordered eating in 2021). enough.org,
The impact of exposure can be severe – from nightmares in a young child who sees a gory video, to a teen developing anxiety, body image issues, or desensitization to violence. Because children often lack the filters to avoid such content, proactive measures (safe search filters, content moderation, & media literacy) are essential to mitigate these risks.
Data Privacy & Personal Security
Data privacy is an often-overlooked risk of children’s internet use. Kids & teens generate a vast digital footprint through social media, apps, & online learning, which can be misused. 89% of Americans (& a large majority of parents) are concerned about social media companies collecting children’s personal information. pewresearch.org.
Parents worry about their child’s identity, location, & habits being tracked. These concerns are well-founded: in 2022 alone, 1.7 million children were victims of identity theft or data breaches – 1 in 43 kids had personal data compromised. staysafeonline.org. Children’s Social Security numbers are valuable to fraudsters, & breaches of popular apps or school databases have exposed student data. Meanwhile, kids themselves often unwittingly share personal info. One survey noted 34% of parents are very worried about teens oversharing personal details online. pewresearch.org.
Many teens have public social media profiles & may disclose their school, hometown, or birthdate, risking their privacy. Younger children also need guidance: for example, a child might use their real name in a game username or click “Allow” on app permissions without understanding the implications.
Alarmingly, 40% of children admit to disabling privacy settings to attract more online friends.childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro
This can expose their profiles to anyone. Location sharing is another risk – if not turned off, many apps broadcast a child’s location to followers. Most parents (85%) feel they bear primary responsibility for protecting kids’ online privacy, but a significant share also say tech companies (59%) & the government (46%) need to help enforce protections. pewresearch.org. Recent years have seen stronger parental control tools & laws (like COPPA) to safeguard young users, yet lapses continue. The prevalence of data-enabled toys & educational apps collecting data has further blurred the line. In short, ensuring children’s data privacy requires vigilance: teaching kids not to share personal identifiers, using privacy settings, & advocating for platforms to limit data collection on minors. A single leak or exploit could have long-term consequences for a child’s financial & digital identity.
Conclusion: The Impact of Online Risks on Children
The statistics above illustrate that today’s children & teens are deeply enmeshed in digital life, with significant exposure to online risks. The impacts of these risks are far-reaching. Mental health concerns among youth have risen in tandem with problematic online experiences. Cyberbullying victims often suffer increased depression, anxiety, & lower self-esteem; in extreme cases it has contributed to self-harm & suicide. pacer.org.,thereachinstitute.org,
The pervasive nature of online bullying means victims may feel there is “no escape,” even at home. Exposure to violent or sexual content can be psychologically distressing or traumatizing, especially for younger children who cannot contextualize what they see. Many teens report feeling pressure to behave certain ways due to social media or developing distorted views on sex & relationships from online pornography.
Predatory encounters are infrequent in absolute terms but can lead to life-altering trauma for those children who are victimized – causing fear, shame, or lasting emotional harm. Even when an online “friend” grooming a child is intercepted before physical abuse, the betrayal of trust & psychological manipulation can leave scars.
There are also educational & developmental impacts. Time spent dealing with cyber drama or indulging in inappropriate content is time not spent on healthy activities or sleep. Victims of cyberbullying often see their schoolwork suffer (nearly 20% report it affecting their grades) pacer.org & they may withdraw socially. Privacy breaches can jeopardize a child’s financial future if identities are stolen, & they undermine the sense of security. Overall, the online risk environment has introduced challenges completely different from prior generations – indeed 77% of parents say today’s teens face completely new issues compared to their own youth
Yet, it’s not all doom & gloom: awareness is growing, & many kids also learn resilience & digital savvy. With proper guidance & safeguards in place, children can enjoy the benefits of the internet while minimizing harm. The data makes clear, however, that proactive measures are urgently needed – the well-being of the next generation depends on how we address these online threats today. At Parents Protecting Children and strongerfamiliesonlinel.org, our Mission is to educate parent & provide them with the resources they need to keep their kids safe in the digital age.
Deacon John O’Maley
Founder
Parents Protecting Children, Inc.
Comments