Editor’s note: Created with youth consultancy Livity, Google’s 2026 report explores how teenagers across the UK are navigating the digital world, from using artificial intelligence to finding balance online. In a guest series, we invite experts – from children’s safety to digital rights – to share what they think the report says about the future of digital policy, covering everything from parental support to the need for better regulatory safeguards. The views of these experts do not necessarily reflect the views of Google. We are happy to share their insights.
Kids don’t need adults to panic about the internet, but they do need us to follow along. The debate about children, rapidly developing technology and online harm has become urgent.
However, urgency can narrow our thinking, and the current debate risks collapsing critical and complex questions about risk, opportunity, agency and rights into the single, simplistic question: Should children under 16 be banned from social media?
A ban can reduce some exposure if it is proportionate, evidence-based and enforceable. But a ban by itself will not teach a child to recognize manipulation, protect themselves from cyberbullying, assess misinformation, threats to their privacy or how to respond to sexual pressure.
The most important question to ask ourselves is: what do children need from us as they grow up in a world that is partly online, with maturity and experience?
New research commissioned by Google, based on data collected from more than 6,000 teenagers in the UK, shows that artificial intelligence is being used in countless ways, from learning to create, revising, translating, problem solving and preparing for future employment. The report finds that 67% of teens use AI for creative projects daily or almost daily, and 65% use it for learning more than once a week. It finds that 77% always or often think about the reliability of information when using the Internet or AI for learning.
Young people are asking us to understand that online life is already part of how they learn, socialize, seek support and build identity. Children do not move from vulnerability to competence in one leap at 16 when they ‘grow up’. Therefore, the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that children’s views be given weight based on their developing capacity to make decisions about their lives.
The report’s age breakdown shows that for 13- to 15-year-olds, AI is largely a learning tool – 21% use it for homework research. They are also still developing critical literacy, with only a third always considering whether online information is trustworthy. Parents remain a safety net for them, and over 80% say they would turn to parents for issues such as cyberbullying or privacy issues.
As teenagers get older, these patterns change. From 16 to 18, AI use is less about homework and more about life management, self-improvement and transition to employment. They are also more skeptical, with 52% always confirming credibility and half actively checking for bias. Even with this growing autonomy, they still need adults, and a quarter worry that their parents lack the skills to recognize artificial intelligence or false information.
This transition – and insights from teenagers themselves – is a warning: static control is not good insurance. Good safeguarding acts as scaffolding, starting with stronger boundaries and supervision, which gradually turns into coaching and shared decision-making with reliable backup.
This does not mean abandoning platforms to self-regulate or putting the burden on families. We need stronger regulation of harmful design features, including tackling coercive loops, weak reporting routes and amplification of disruptive content.
Even with the best regulation, risks will remain, and children will still need adults who can talk to them about what they see, help them interpret what feels confusing, and respond calmly when things go wrong. This is why we should give serious thought to a national behavior change campaign for trusted adults. Parents are right to want to protect their children from risks they barely feel able to keep up with, they need support, not another list of settings that feel outdated when printed.
A successful campaign could promote three important adult behaviors to support children online. First, adults should ask about digital activities without panic to build trust. Second, they should establish boundaries that evolve with the child’s maturity and experience. Finally, they must act early and respond to problems without shaming, and ensure that children feel safe to seek help without fear of punishment or losing access to their devices
Parents have always helped children navigate friendships, relationships, education and careers, and children growing up online need the same support and increased confidence and autonomy in digital spaces. The test of success is whether fewer children get hurt, more children can ask for help, and children who are already disadvantaged offline can safely benefit from the technology. Children need adults to follow along, stay close and know what to do when it matters.