Study: Almost half of children spend over 6 hours/day in the digital environment

The age range at which children use social media has decreased to 5-10 years, and almost half of children (48.3%) spend more than 6 hours a day in the digital environment, according to a study by Save the Children Romania.According to the 2025 study by Save the Children Romania, almost half of children (48.3%) spend more than 6 hours a day in the digital environment, with most of this time spent on social media, where they experience "pressure, over-stimulation and sometimes rejection.""Children are not emotionally prepared for this hyper-stimulation, for the violence in the online environment, for the 'perfect' lives of others, and they end up feeling inadequate, invisible or marginalised," warn experts from Save the Children Romania in a press release sent on Friday.According to Save the Children, manifestations such as lack of concentration, sleep disorders, social isolation and low self-esteem may occur, which, in some cases, become the reasons why parents seek help from mental health professionals too late.The statistics from Save the Children warn that one in three children who sought counseling from the organisation's psychologists has faced anxiety and required psycho-emotional support, with the percentage increasing to over 50% in adolescents, sometimes leading to extremely serious consequences, including suicide attempts."On social media, children can end up in toxic communities, in extremist groups, or on irresponsible influencers' pages, where parents are absent, and children are turned into easy prey and given the illusion of belonging to a group. The digital language, foreign to parents, becomes a language of children's suffering: for example, emojis like frogs, dynamite, or a black heart may appear harmless but promote and cultivate forms of radicalisation, misogyny, or suicidal ideation," the release reads.According to the quoted source, in 2025, the age range at which social media use becomes significant is 5-10 years, compared to 9 years in 2019, and 8.2 years in the 2021 study.At the same time, two out of five children say they have been insulted or received upsetting messages online, an increase compared to 2021 and 2024, according to the most recent study on children conducted in 2025.The same source indicates that a significant percentage of parents (75%) say that their greatest concern regarding their children's internet use is exposure to inappropriate content online or the possibility of being contacted by people they don't know in real life (70%).Additionally, 59% of parents fear that their children could become victims of internet crimes. These figures reflect a growing awareness of online risks and highlight the need for effective strategies to protect children in the digital environment.32% of parents report that their child uses TikTok, 21% Instagram, 19% Facebook, and 17% Snapchat."Behind children's and adolescents' behaviours, sometimes withdrawn, sometimes irritable, there is a reality that is difficult for parents to understand: a digital world that requires you to be present, active, happy, popular, perfect! You are not allowed to make mistakes, to stop posting or reacting, because you will be punished by exclusion or silence. On social media, where young people spend more than 6 hours a day, they are constantly exposed to a silent pressure to compare themselves with others or with unrealistic beauty standards, to receive validation through the number of likes, and to hide their flaws with the help of filters," the quoted source shows.Psychologists from Save the Children recommend that parents: build secure attachment relationships where children feel seen, heard and accepted; be models of emotional regulation, as children learn more from who we are than from what we tell them; be curious, ask simple questions, not accusatory ones; and look at their own childhood with gentleness, as the way they were treated and loved influences how they treat and love their own children.