Growing Up Online: What New Research Reveals About Children Ages 3 to 10

For today’s children, going online is not a special event. It is part of everyday life.

A new report from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, “Growing Up Online: Parenting Young Children in the Digital Age,” examines how children ages 3 to 10 use digital technology and how parents are trying to manage the risks, benefits, and pressures that come with it.

The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 2,008 Australian parents and caregivers conducted in September 2025. It focused on children’s internet use outside school, preschool, and formal childcare settings.

The results show that the question facing parents is no longer whether young children will use the internet. The real question is how families can help children use it safely, intentionally, and without allowing online activities to crowd out the rest of childhood.

Nearly Every Young Child Has Been Online

According to the survey, 97% of children ages 3 to 10 had been online at some point, and 94% had used the internet during the four weeks before the survey.

Children commonly accessed the internet through:

• Tablets
• Smart televisions
• Smartphones
• Gaming consoles
• Computers
• Smart home devices

More than half of parents, 57%, reported that their child had at least one internet-connected device of their own. Device ownership increased significantly with age. Only 29% of children ages 3 to 4 had their own device, compared with 83% of children ages 9 to 10.

This rapid increase in access means that digital parenting must begin well before the teenage years. By the time many families start thinking seriously about online safety, children may already have years of experience using connected devices.

Children Go Online for More Than Entertainment

Entertainment was the most common reason children used the internet. Ninety-six percent of parents whose children had been online said their child used it for fun.

However, children were also going online to:

• Learn new things
• Complete homework
• Find information
• Communicate with family
• Maintain friendships
• Listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks
• Explore personal interests

Seventy-one percent used the internet for learning, while 42% used it to find information and 42% used it for homework. Nearly three-quarters had used an educational game, website, or app.

The reasons changed as children grew older. Among children ages 9 to 10, 69% used the internet for homework, 61% used it to find information, and approximately half used it for communication or social connection.

This is an important distinction. Not all online activity serves the same purpose. Watching an endless stream of recommended videos is different from video-calling a grandparent, researching a favorite animal, listening to an audiobook, or completing a school assignment.

Parents may therefore get more useful results by looking at what children are doing online, not simply counting every minute of screen use as though it were identical.

Social Media and AI Are Reaching Children Early

One of the report’s more striking findings is how early children are encountering technologies commonly associated with teenagers and adults.

Almost one-third of parents, 31%, reported that their child had used a social media platform or app such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Snapchat. Most accessed these platforms through someone else’s account or without an account, although 6% reportedly had their own social media profile.

Social media use increased with age. Sixteen percent of children ages 3 to 4 had used a mainstream social media platform, compared with 41% of children ages 9 to 10.

Newer technology is also becoming part of childhood. Fifteen percent of parents said their child had used an artificial intelligence assistant or companion, while 10% said their child had used a virtual reality headset. Among children ages 9 to 10, 25% had used an AI assistant or companion.

These findings suggest that conversations about algorithms, AI-generated information, advertising, privacy, and online influence may need to begin earlier than many adults expect.

Parents See Real Benefits

Although parents often expressed anxiety about their children going online, they also recognized that digital technology can provide meaningful benefits.

When given a list of possible benefits, 96% of parents whose children had been online identified at least one positive outcome.

The most commonly reported benefits were:

• Having fun or relaxing
• Learning letters, words, numbers, or reading skills
• Learning about the world
• Exploring hobbies and interests
• Developing creativity
• Building digital skills
• Staying connected with family and friends

Seventy-four percent said the internet helped their child have fun or relax. The same percentage said it helped with learning or understanding the world, and 74% reported benefits involving interests, hobbies, or creativity.

The benefits also changed with age. Parents of younger children were more likely to report improvements in foundational literacy and number skills. Parents of older children were more likely to report benefits involving exploration, digital skills, and social connection.

The report does not support the idea that digital media is entirely harmful or entirely beneficial. Its findings point toward a more realistic conclusion: the value of online activity depends on the child, the content, the context, and how adults support the experience.

The Internet Has Become a Parenting Tool

The research also recognizes a reality that is often missing from debates about children and screen time: parents sometimes need digital technology to get through the day.

About two-thirds of parents said they had used the internet at least once a week to occupy their child while they took a break or had some downtime. A similar percentage used it while working from home or completing household chores.

Parents also used online content to support household routines. Forty-six percent had used music, podcasts, audiobooks, or meditation apps at least once a week to help their child wind down or sleep.

At the same time, 64% had regularly used the internet to have fun or connect with their child, including playing games or looking at content together.

Parents should not be made to feel guilty for occasionally using a screen so they can cook dinner, finish a work call, care for another child, or simply take a breath. The report specifically calls for practical, accessible, and nonjudgmental guidance that recognizes the competing demands families face.

Parents Are Worried, and Often Overwhelmed

When parents were asked how they felt about their children being online, 67% initially described negative feelings, particularly worry and anxiety.

Nearly two-thirds identified at least one challenge associated with their child’s internet use. The most common concern was that online activities interfered with other parts of life.

Parents reported that internet use had:

• Interfered with other activities, 48%
• Created family conflict, 22%
• Exposed children to age-inappropriate content, 22%
• Contributed to emotional difficulties, 15%

More than half were at least somewhat concerned about the amount of time their child had recently spent online.

These concerns became more common as children grew older and gained greater access to personal devices, social media, gaming, messaging, and independent browsing.

Most Parents Are Already Taking Safety Steps

Parents are not ignoring the risks.

Among families whose children could access an internet-connected device at home:

• 95% had at least one rule governing device use.
• 77% used at least one parental control.
• 74% monitored activities such as app downloads or search history.
• 87% had proactively discussed online safety with their child.

However, 73% still found helping their child stay safe online at least somewhat challenging.

Parents were also less likely to discuss certain complicated subjects. Only 33% had talked about what to do after seeing sexual images online, and 31% had discussed how algorithms influence what people see.

Parental controls and restrictions remain useful, but they cannot replace communication. Children eventually use devices outside direct adult supervision. They need to understand why safety rules exist and know that they can ask for help without automatically losing access or getting into trouble.

Five Practical Lessons for Families

1. Start online safety conversations early

Online safety should not begin with one serious conversation when a child receives a phone. It can begin with simple lessons for preschoolers:

“Tell me if something makes you scared.”

“Do not share your name or address.”

“Ask before clicking a new video or game.”

As children mature, these conversations can expand to privacy, advertising, misinformation, algorithms, online friendships, AI, and harmful content.

2. Watch, play, and explore together

Co-viewing and co-playing allow parents to understand what their children enjoy while creating natural opportunities to discuss safety.

The report recommends regular joint engagement because it can improve the quality of children’s digital experiences and make them more comfortable speaking up when something goes wrong.

3. Create predictable routines

Rules work better when they are consistent and understandable.

Families might establish device-free meals, charging stations outside bedrooms, limits on autoplay, or specific times when entertainment screens are available. A written family technology agreement can help children participate in setting expectations rather than simply receiving orders. The eSafety Commissioner provides both family technology agreements and conversation resources for parents.

4. Protect important offline activities

Instead of focusing exclusively on a precise daily screen-time number, parents can watch for displacement.

Is online activity interfering with:

• Sleep?
• Reading?
• Outdoor activity?
• Family conversation?
• School responsibilities?
• Creative play?
• In-person friendships?

The study found that interference with other activities was parents’ most commonly reported challenge.

The goal is not necessarily to remove every screen. It is to make sure screens do not consume the parts of childhood that cannot be replaced.

5. Adjust the approach as children grow

Younger children generally benefit from close supervision, simple rules, shared use, and predictable routines.

Older children need increasing involvement in decisions about balance, privacy, healthy digital habits, and help-seeking. They may also need more direct conversations about social media, messaging, online strangers, algorithms, AI, and emotionally manipulative content.

Parents Cannot Carry the Entire Burden

The report makes another critical point: keeping children safe online cannot be the responsibility of parents alone.

Technology companies must build safer products, improve moderation, simplify parental controls, and make the strongest privacy and safety protections the default for children. Parents should not need advanced technical knowledge to prevent a young child from encountering inappropriate content.

Families can set rules and teach good habits, but platforms still control the algorithms, product designs, privacy settings, and recommendation systems children encounter.

Finding a Healthier Digital Balance

Children’s online and offline lives are no longer completely separate. Digital technology can support education, creativity, communication, relaxation, and family connection. It can also contribute to conflict, distraction, inappropriate exposure, and the loss of time for other important activities.

The answer is not panic, shame, or the expectation of perfect parenting.

It is ongoing involvement.

Parents can create safer digital habits by remaining curious about what their children do online, setting developmentally appropriate boundaries, sharing digital experiences, protecting screen-free routines, and making sure children know they can ask for help.

The internet will continue to change. The most important protection parents can give children is not a single setting or restriction. It is a strong, open relationship that allows online safety conversations to grow along with them.