- Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions," which revealed widespread use of social AI companions among users ages 13-17.Seventy-two percent of teens have used AI companions at least once.
Over half use these platforms at least a few times a month.
About one in three teens:
- Have used AI companions for social interaction and relationships, including role-playing, romantic interactions, emotional support, friendship, or conversation practice.
- Find conversations with AI companions to be as satisfying or more satisfying than those with real-life friends.
About one in three teen AI companion users:
- Report feeling uncomfortable with something an AI companion has said or done.
- Have chosen to discuss important or serious matters with AI companions instead of real people. (Common Sense Media 2025)
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1 in 17 minors reported having personally experienced sextortion. (2023 Trends in Youth Online Safety, Released August 2024), Thorn)
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85% of U.S. teens say they play video games, and about four-in-ten do so daily. Bullying is a problem: 80% of all teens think harassment over video games is a problem for people their age. And 41% of those who play them say they’ve been called an offensive name when playing. (Teens and Video Games Today, Pew Research May 2024)
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Digital online game platforms put adolescents at risk of exposure to uncontrolled digital advertising areas. Adolescents reported facing sexual content and embarrassing material in ads as well as abusive verbal content when playing online games. Advertising in the Digital Area: Playing Online Games Pose a Risk to Come Upon Improper Advertisements - PMC
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Conversations with children on social gaming platforms can escalate into high-risk grooming situations within 19 seconds, with an average grooming time of just 45 minutes. Social gaming environments that facilitate adult-child intermingling, exchanging virtual gifts and public ranking systems, significantly increase these risks. (We Protect Global Alliance, Global Threat Assessment Report, 2023)
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The more time kids spend using screens from ages 9 to 11 years old, the higher their odds of suicidal behaviors two years later, at ages 11 to 13. Specifically, each additional hour of screen time increased the risk by 9%. The risk was highest with texting, followed by video chatting, watching videos, and playing video games. (University of California San Francisco, March 2023)
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Teenagers are spending more time on screens, and that activity is linked to depression and suicide-related behaviors. Depression and suicide rates for teens between the ages of 13 and 18 increased dramatically since 2010, especially among girls, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study identifies excessive use of electronic devices as a likely culprit. CDC statistics show the suicide rate increased 31 percent among teenagers from 2010 to 2015, while a national survey shows that the number of adolescents reporting symptoms of severe depression rose 33 percent.
- Reduced Perceptions of Child Safety: Some 80% of children in 25 countries report feeling in danger of sexual abuse or exploitation online. For a child victim, this may result in social isolation, mental health issues, substance abuse, self-harm or suicide, as well as an increased likelihood of exhibiting abusive behaviors themselves in adulthood. (UNICEF, accessed March 2023)
- Top five online platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook: 35% of teens say they are using at least one of them “almost constantly.” (Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022, Pew Research, August 10, 2022)
- According to the Entertainment Software Association, 64 percent of U.S. households own a device used to play video games, with children and teens under eighteen making up more than 28 percent of all gamers.
- A 2020 survey by the Entertainment Software Association revealed that three-quarters of American households have at least one gamer, including 70% of American kids and 64% of adults. In fact, 55% of parents play online games with their kids at least once a week.
- A 2019 survey from Common Sense Media found that 64 percent of tweens 8 to 12 years old play online games.
- Overall, 84% of teens say they have or have access to a game console at home, and 90% say they play video games of any kind (whether on a computer, game console or cellphone) (Teens, Social Media & Technology, Pew Research Center 2018)
- The average American spends 6.5 hours on the internet every day. (Global Web Index, 2017)
- A 2017 Pew study found that 90 percent of teens now use gaming platforms.
- Just 28% of parents have installed software on computers to prohibit certain website visitation; only 17% have such software on mobile devices, and just 15% on gaming consoles. (Cox Communications 2012).
- Nearly 3 in 4 online gamers interact with other games online. Cox. (2014) "2014 Cox Internet Safety Survey." The Futures Company.
- Web chat (50%)
- Voice chat (44%)
- Web cam (20%
Miscellaneous Statistics (older archives available here)