27/05/2026
Children Are Going Online Younger, Longer, and More Exposed Than Ever
New research from Ofcom in the UK highlights just how deeply digital platforms are shaping children’s daily lives and the growing challenges around online safety.
The newly published “Children’s Online Experiences” report (May 2026) examined the online behaviours of children aged 8–17, alongside parents of children aged 6 months to 17 years.
While the research focuses on UK children, many of the findings strongly reflect what we are seeing across other countries.
Some of the findings that stood out most to us at Chirp:
* Smartphone ownership jumps dramatically between ages 10 and 11, from 56% to 83%
* Children aged 8–14 now spend an average of 25 hours per week online, rising to more than 44 hours weekly for 15–17-year-olds
* 73% of children aged 11–17 reported seeing harmful content online within a four-week period
* TikTok was the platform most commonly associated with harmful content exposure, followed by YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook
* Personalised algorithmic feeds remain the biggest driver of harmful content exposure
* AI use among children is accelerating rapidly, with 56% of 8–17-year-olds now using AI tools and 11% saying they have used AI “as a friend” or someone to talk to
* Children are increasingly passive consumers of content, spending more time scrolling, watching, and reacting rather than creating
* Online gaming continues to function as both entertainment and social interaction, with many children regularly communicating with people they have only met online
* Traditional offline activities such as reading for pleasure continue to decline in favour of highly visual short-form content
The report reinforces the scale of the challenge facing parents, schools, policymakers, and technology companies.
Children are going online younger, spending more time connected, and interacting with increasingly sophisticated recommendation systems, AI tools, and social platforms.
A link to the full Ofcom report is detailed in the comments below.
www.chirpfamily.com