Facts & Figures
Smartphones and digital media are a complex topic that touches many areas of life. More and more studies show that these devices and apps are fundamentally changing childhood.
The situation in Switzerland
Children with a smartphone of their own
One dot stands for one child in a hundred.
Smartphone ownership is widespread among 12- to 13-year-old children in Switzerland today.
That is how long young people would be using their smartphone over the course of a year if they took all their screen time in one go.
12- to 19-year-olds; median: 3 hours on weekdays and 4 hours on weekend days.
Both concern 15- to 16-year-olds: too little time for family, friends or homework because of internet use — and the unsuccessful attempt to cut down their own time online.
… say they often or very often find it hard to stop using media.
Smartphones connect children with the world – and the world with children
What TikTok shows 13-year-olds
Share of sessions in which TikTok showed such content to fictitious profiles of 13-year-olds.
What Meta estimated internally
Internal Meta documents show that in 2021 Meta estimated that around this many children a day receive sexually harassing content or contacts on Facebook and Instagram — for example images showing adult genitals.
… report having been contacted online at least once in the past two years by a stranger with unwanted sexual intentions, for example being asked to send erotic photos.
12- to 19-year-olds.
… have come across content online at least once that frightened them.
The later, the better
Health risks
In a direct comparison, 12-year-olds with a smartphone of their own show a markedly higher risk than peers without one. The association grows stronger the earlier a child owns a smartphone.
Comparative study with around 10,500 children.
That is how far ahead children who only start using social media at 14 are of their classmates in mathematics and reading — those who began at 11 or 12.
Comparative study with around 5,000 young people.
11- to 12-year-olds who use social media for more than three hours a day showed depressive and anxiety symptoms more often two years later than peers with no more than half an hour.
Longitudinal study with 2,350 young people.
Brain development
Frequently checking social media in early adolescence is associated with a change in neural sensitivity to social rewards and punishments.
fMRI longitudinal study · 169 adolescents · 3 years
Children whose social media use increased between the ages of 9 and 13 showed weaker reading, vocabulary and memory performance at 13 than peers with no or very little social media use.
longitudinal study · 6,554 children
Intensive social media use among adolescents is linked to changes in prefrontal and other brain regions as well as to an impaired maturation of attention and executive networks.
Findings from Sucht Schweiz
Problematic use of social networks
In 2022, around seven per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds showed problematic use of social networks. Girls were more than twice as often affected as boys.
… say they are not satisfied with their appearance. Young people who use social media more frequently tend to be less satisfied.
… report recurring problems falling asleep. Among older adolescents, problematic social media use is also associated with less favourable sleep patterns.
Are you ready to make a difference?
The Parent Pact is the answer to these figures: the parents of a school agree together to wait before a first smartphone.