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 evidence keeps growing. Here is an overview, with sources and links to the studies.
The situation in Switzerland
At the age of 6-7, 20% of children own a mobile phone/smartphone of their own. Among 12- to 13-year-olds, by 2024 96% already owned a smartphone of their own.
Around 50 days, non-stop: 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.
31% of 15- to 16-year-olds report having too little time for family, friends or homework because of their internet use. 23% say they have tried without success to cut down their time online.
55% of 14- to 17-year-olds say they often or very often find it hard to stop using media.
Smartphones connect children with the world – and the world with children
45% of girls and 20% of boys* report having been contacted online at least once in the past two years by a stranger with unwanted sexual intentions (e.g. being asked to send erotic photos).
45% of primary school children in Switzerland have come across content online at least once that frightened them.
In an experiment with fictitious profiles of 13-year-olds, TikTok showed the girls' profiles content on extreme health, fitness or dieting in 92% of sessions and sexualised content in 83%. The boys' profiles were shown misogynistic content in 85% of sessions.
Internal Meta documents show that in 2021 Meta estimated that around 100,000 children a day receive sexually harassing content or contacts on Facebook and Instagram, for example images showing adult genitals.
The later, the better
In a large comparative study, 12-year-olds with a smartphone of their own showed higher signs of depression (+30%), overweight (+40%) and insufficient sleep (+60%) than peers without a smartphone of their own. The association grows stronger the earlier a child owns a smartphone. Comparative study with around 10,500 children
Children and young people who only start using social media at 14 are ahead of their classmates, who already do so at 11 or 12, by up to half a year in their mathematics and reading skills at the age of 16. Comparative study with around 5,000 young people.
11- to 12-year-olds who use social media for more than 3 hours a day showed depressive and anxiety symptoms more often two years later than peers with no more than 30 minutes of daily use. 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. Three-year fMRI longitudinal study with 169 adolescents
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.
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 with 6,554 children
Findings from Sucht Schweiz
In 2022, around 7% of 11- to 15-year-olds showed problematic use of social networks; girls were affected more often, at around 10%, than boys, at around 4%.
Around 31% of 14- to 15-year-olds say they are not satisfied with their appearance. Young people who use social media more frequently tend to be less satisfied with their appearance.
31% of 11- to 15-year-olds report recurring problems falling asleep. Among older adolescents, problematic social media use is also associated with less favourable sleep patterns.