Hyper-connected generation: 8 out of 10 children addicted to digital devices

"When more than three out of four children feel addicted and more than nine out of ten recognise health effects, we are faced with a demand for support," says Davide Dal Maso, president of Social Warning - Movimento Etico Digitale. "The question to ask is whether the time and quality of digital education at school and in the family is really enough."

Awareness of the risks is very high. Over 91% of young people recognise a direct impact of digital technology on their well-being. In detail, 72.2% believe that excessive use can affect both mental and physical health, 15% only mental health and 4.1% only physical health. Just 8.7% see no correlation.

Young people associate hyper-connectedness with attention problems, worsening sleep quality, postural difficulties, visual fatigue and repercussions on psychological well-being. An alarm signal that grows over time: already in 2024 more than 60% recognised these risks, but the 2025 figure marks a real collective awareness.

At the same time, the time spent online during the most sensitive periods of the day increases. Surfing between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. registers a significant increase, reaching 47.2%, while the evening band between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. also continues to grow (15.1%). Hours traditionally dedicated to study, family relations and psychophysical recovery are increasingly being taken up by continuous connection.

The perception of being online also changes. While 57% of young people declare that they feel 'good', the proportion of those who answer 'neither good nor bad' rises markedly to 31%. According to the Observatory, it is not a question of balance, but of habituation: the Internet is no longer perceived as a space that generates well-being or discomfort, but as an unavoidable environment.

The problem, however, is not simply the use of technology. "I meet more and more children and young people who are aware of the time they spend online, the risks and the issue of addiction," notes Gregorio Ceccone, digital pedagogist and vice president of the Digital Ethics Movement. "The difficulty often stems from the incoherent message they receive from adults. At school, work is done on balance and digital citizenship, but within the family there is a lack of clear rules and educational continuity".

According to the Observatory's data, only 37.4% of households have established rules on social use. Among those who do apply them, 72% impose time and time limits, 48% restrict platforms and 44% use parental control tools. The majority of children, however, continue to surf without structured constraints.

Concern about the mechanisms fuelling digital addiction is not only in the educational context. On 6 February, just a few days before Safer Internet Day, the European Commission brought charges against TikTok for alleged violations of the Digital Services Act.

According to Brussels, the ByteDance-owned social network designed features - such as infinite scrolling, automatic content playback, push notifications, and a highly customised recommendation system - capable of encouraging compulsive behaviour, without an adequate assessment of the risks to the physical and mental well-being of users, especially minors.

If the violations are confirmed, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of global annual turnover and forced to make structural changes to the algorithm and interface. A precedent that could also extend to other platforms based on similar mechanisms, such as Instagram and YouTube Shorts.

Meanwhile, the data show which digital environments are most frequented by Italian teenagers. WhatsApp is the most popular platform (91.6%), followed by YouTube (80%) and Instagram (73.8%). TikTok is used by 72.7% of teenagers, while interest in Snapchat (28.2%) and BeReal (15.4%) is growing. Facebook (2.7%) and LinkedIn (1.3%) remain marginal.

The Internet is also the main source that young people turn to in order to seek answers to their doubts (91%, data released in autumn 2025), ahead of parents (60%) and friends (52%). The use of artificial intelligence (46%) is also growing strongly, while teachers (25%) and books (6%) occupy the last positions.

To address this educational emergency, the Digital Ethics Movement has promoted a bill to establish the National Digital Citizenship Day, which has already been approved in the Senate. The aim is to build a coherent educational path that accompanies children not only in awareness, but in the ability to transform it into sustainable behaviour. Because, as Ceccone recalls, 'digital education is not a private matter, but a shared responsibility'.