On the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2026, data from the Digital Education Observatory show a generation aware of the risks of the web, but without real educational accompaniment
There is one fact that, more than any other, conveys the meaning of Safer Internet Day 2026: not the increase in hours spent online, nor the growth of the platforms used, but the fact that a large majority of young people know they are dependent on digital devices without being able, despite this, to change their behavior in a lasting way. This is the fracture that emerges from the survey of the Scientific Observatory on Digital Education, promoted by the Digital Ethical Movement, which involved over 20,000 students between 11 and 18 years old.
Not a question of unawareness, but of educational solitude. As he points out Davide Dal Masopresident of the Digital Ethical Movement, «when more than three out of four kids feel dependent and more than nine out of ten recognize health effects, we are faced with a request for support». A request that today remains largely unanswered.
Addiction as an ordinary condition
77.5% of students say they feel dependent on digital devices, a clear increase compared to the previous year. A fact that is striking not so much for its extent, but for the way in which it is internalized: the majority speaks of a mild or moderate dependence, as if the excess had become a structural condition, difficult to break down but also difficult to alarm.
This is where quantitative data becomes qualitative. Addiction is no longer experienced as a deviation, but as an integral part of digital everyday life. And when we move from recognition to action, the system freezes: among the kids who have tried to reduce their time online, only 23.3% say they have actually succeeded. The awareness is there, but it does not find a basis on which to translate into behavior.
Five hours a day and time disappearing
More than a third of students spend more than five hours a day in front of screens, a threshold that is equivalent, on an annual basis, to spending almost three months entirely online. But even more significant is the moment in which this time is absorbed: browsing increases markedly in the 1pm-7pm slot and evening browsing continues to increase, between 7pm and 11pm.
Hours that were once dedicated to study, relationships, rest. Hours that today are sucked into a continuous connection, which is no longer limited to occupying the edges of the day, but redesigns its structure. Digital does not accompany daily life: it increasingly replaces it.
Health as widespread awareness
On the level of perception, children show a clarity that belies many adult narratives. Over 91% recognize a direct impact of excessive use of digital devices on mental health, physical health, or both. Attention, sleep, posture, vision, psychological well-being: the picture is clear even for those who experience it firsthand.
It is an awareness which, however, does not translate into the ability to regulate. As he observes Gregorio Cecconedigital pedagogist and representative of the Scientific Observatory, “the problem is not the lack of awareness of children, but the often inconsistent message they receive from adults”. At school we work on balance and digital citizenship, but outside the classroom the discussion is interrupted, fragmented and loses continuity.
“Neither good nor bad”: when digital becomes the environment
One of the most revealing data concerns the emotional perception of being online. If 57% declare that they feel “good”, the share of those who answer “neither good nor bad” grows significantly, reaching 31%. It is not a sign of balance, but of habituation. The Internet is no longer perceived as a space that makes you feel good or bad, but as a constant, inevitable environment that ceases to be evaluated.
It is the most delicate passage: when digital is no longer an object of choice, but a permanent background of existence.
Adults and shared responsibility
When kids have a doubt, 91% look for answers on the Internet. Parents and teachers are falling behind, while the use of artificial intelligence as a guidance tool is growing. Meanwhile, 62.6% declare that there are rules in the family regarding the use of social media, but these are mainly time limits and technical controls.
The issue, once again, is educational. «We often hear the answer that digital education is a private matter», observes Ceccone, «while it is a shared responsibility». And it is precisely this lack of continuity between school, family and society that leaves children alone in the face of an awareness that, without tools, risks turning into impotence.
