Kinder Medien Monitor 2026: Ergebnispräsentation

Key Findings

• — More than two-thirds of all 6-13-year-olds know ChatGPT; among 10-13-year-olds, 91%
• — Among children who know ChatGPT (n=1,087), 45% use it in their free time, 36% for school topics or homework and 13% in lessons; among aware 10-13-year-olds the share not using it at all fell from about half in 2025 to a quarter in 2026
• — Asked to pick up to three words for ChatGPT, aware children chose 'smart' (60%), 'helpful' (50%), 'exciting' (31%), 'like a machine' (30%) and 'like a real person' (23%); 6-9-year-olds more often chose 'confusing' or 'creepy'
• — 71% of aware schoolchildren say secretly using it in an exam is not okay; 57% reject submitting a fully AI-written text and 56% reject hiding use from the teacher; 66% find asking it when they do not understand a task okay
• — 33% of 6-13-year-olds may not bring a phone to school and a further 31% only switched off; 59% of phone owners rate their school's rule good or very good

Methodology Notes

Mixed-mode representative survey (online, in-person and remote interviews) of 2,006 (parents of) children aged 4 to 13 in German-speaking private households: 1,603 tandem interviews with 6-13-year-olds and a parent, and 403 parent-only interviews for 4-5-year-olds; random-quota selection by age, sex, region and education; fieldwork 26 March to 22 May 2026 by Krämer Marktforschung; weighted. Only the 41-slide results presentation (PDF created 14 September 2026) and the press release of 17 September 2026 are public; there is no methods report beyond the study-profile slide. Publisher consortium of children's-media companies.

Sources