Ofcom has published its Children’s Online Experiences report, which consolidates a broad range of research conducted by the regulator throughout the year. It is one of the most comprehensive pieces of research into how children and young people in the UK use technology, what they encounter online, and how those experiences are changing. These findings are particularly significant.

We are sharing this report because the evidence it contains should directly inform how we engage with children and young people about their online lives, how schools and other settings approach digital education, and how families think and make decisions about online safety at home. The findings are not a distant concern. They describe the everyday experiences of the children in our care right now.

Ofcom’s report covers children from infancy through to 17years of age. The scale and scope of what it finds should be of interest to everyone working with or caring for children and young people.

Children as young as six months are going online. 85% of all parents say their child looks at a screen regularly. Time online almost doubles between the early teenage years and age 15 to 17, when young people spend an average of two full days a week connected. Meanwhile, reading for pleasure is declining, and offline activities occupy an ever-smaller share of children’s time.

By the time children start secondary/grammar school group chats and social feeds are already shaping their online behaviour. Schools and families that wait until secondary/grammar school to begin the conversation are often already too late.

The evidence points clearly to this age range as an important period for establishing healthy digital habits, setting expectations around phones and apps, and ensuring children know who to turn to and what to do if something goes wrong online.

Some children could be turning to AI for support and advice due to the immediate response and positive encouragement it provides. It is important to remember that AI cannot and should not be relied upon to identify risk, escalate concern or provide genuine support.

A child disclosing distress to a chatbot is not being safeguarded. Schools and families may not have begun having conversations about this specific use.

Is a child confiding in a chatbot being safeguarded? Why might that child feel it is the most helpful place to turn?

Children aged 13-15 who were confident in their abilities have the least experience to draw upon compared to those aged 16-17, highlighting why early intervention in Years 5 and 6 is so critical. This confidence isn’t earned: when Ofcom tested those who said they could spot AI-generated content, a quarter were unable to correctly identify the AI-generated image they were shown. Confidence does not always equal safety. A child who is overconfident is far less likely to pause, critically question what they see, or ask a trusted adult for help.

The cause is not what children are searching for. It is what algorithms are serving them: 35% of 11 to 17-year-olds report encountering harmful content while scrolling their feeds, against only 1% who searched for it.

Ofcom said TikTok and YouTube are still not safe enough for children.

In March 2026 the regulator wrote to both platforms asking them to set out how they would make their recommendation feeds safer; the deadline was the end of April. Neither platform committed to significant changes, maintaining their feeds are already safe. Ofcom’s evidence says otherwise. Meta, Snap and Roblox have agreed to stronger protections in response to the same regulatory pressure.

Most children aged 8-17-years-old say they feel safe online, but only 40% of parents believe the benefits of social media outweigh the risks. This gap between children’s experience and adult concern is worth acknowledging. This should lead to conversations between adults and children about how to be safer online.

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are used mostly for scrolling and short-form video. Snapchat and WhatsApp are used for communication. Very few children are actively creating content. This matters because passive scrolling exposes children to algorithmic feeds, increasing the risk of encountering harmful and / or illegal content.

Nearly four in ten parents (38%) actively disagree that the benefits outweigh the risks, a near-even split in adult opinion that sits alongside 81% of children saying they feel safe.

Children who feel safe may be less likely to recognise something as a concern in the first place, and as a result, less likely to raise it with an adult they trust. Parents who feel anxious may be more likely to ban or restrict rather than engage in conversation. The goal is not to make children feel less safe or parents feel less worried, it is to close the gap by actively engaging in honest, non-judgmental conversations.

For many children, gaming is not entertainment. It is the new social frontier and where friendships are formed. Adults who focus exclusively on social media may be missing the space where the most significant online interactions are occurring.

This report arrives as the UK Education Committee calls for a statutory social media ban for under-16s. The Government’s public consultation on this closes 11:59pm on the 26th May 2026, still open at the time of publication, with the Government’s response expected in Summer 2026.

Whatever legislation follows, the evidence in this report is an important reminder than legislation alone is not the answer. It’s requires a whole societal approach. The most important protective factor in a child’s online life is a trusted adult who asks good questions and keeps the conversation going.

“Children and Young People need and want adults they trust to engage with them. Adults who are willing to listen without judgment and who understand the reality of growing up online in 2026, and who can help young people make themselves and each other safer.”
– Colin Stitt, Head of Safer Schools

Ofcom publishes this research annually. We encourage professionals, educators and families to read it directly. The full report and headline findings are available below.