Common Sense Media Census: AI Use by Tweens and Teens (2026)

Key Findings

• — 86% of kids aged 9-17 use or interact with AI, including 24% who do so daily; use rises with age (81% of 9-12-year-olds to 92% of 16-17-year-olds)
• — 44% of kids say a parent or guardian has never talked to them about how to use AI safely; among AI users specifically, 41% report no such conversation
• — 37% of AI-using kids have used AI to discuss their feelings or personal problems; among those, 25% say they sometimes feel AI understands them better than most people do
• — 12% of kids would turn to an AI chatbot before a trusted adult for health/body questions, rising to 27% among daily AI users
• — The report states that AI companionship is not safe for anyone under 18 per the organization's research position, while noting guardrails in commonly used AI tools remain thin to nonexistent

Methodology Notes

Nationally representative online survey of 1,204 US children aged 9-17, fielded by Common Sense Media as the first in a planned annual tracking series. Self-report data; no experimental or clinical validation component.

Sources