Children’s Worries

These data from the 2026 EU Kids Online report illustrate the hierarchy of anxieties among 29,169 European children, contextualising digital risks within the broader scope of real-world concerns. The data reveal that children’s primary concerns are existential and academic: family illness or death (73%) and school performance (71%) significantly outweigh specific digital risks. However, digital risks carry a high 'intensity of worry'; for instance, although only 45% are concerned about non-consensual image-sharing, this issue receives the second-highest 'very worried' rating in the dataset (25%). A significant trend emerges regarding digital self-awareness. A total of 63% of children report being worried about 'using screens too much,' although the majority (39%) categorise this as 'a little worried'. Similarly, 51% of young people express concern about fake images (AI/deepfakes) and 49% about the difficulty of knowing who to trust online due to fake news.