Survey: Student screentime rises to record highs at all school levels

by MITSUMASA INOUE
March 28, 2026

Screentime has increased among children. (Asahi photo

High school students spent a record 6 hours and 44 minutes online on average on weekdays in the final two months of 2025, 25 minutes longer year on year, a government agency said.

The Children and Families Agency’s data released on Feb. 26 also showed that nearly half of high school students use generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The agency’s 17th survey, conducted from November to December last year on 5,000 children aged 10 to 17, obtained 3,060 valid responses.

The average amount of time spent online by elementary, junior high and high school students was 5 hours and 27 minutes, also up 25 minutes from the previous year.

Elementary school students aged 10 and older spent an average of 3 hours and 54 minutes online, while junior high school students were online an average of 5 hours and 24 minutes.

Those were both the longest times on record for the age groups.

By purpose, “hobbies and entertainment” accounted for 3 hours and 1 minute, followed by “study, learning and other education” for 1 hour and 6 minutes, and “communication with parents, friends and others” for 58 minutes.

The survey for the first time asked about the use of “Generative AI, such as Chat GPT, Copilot and Gemini.” Thirty percent of all respondents said they used them.

By school level, 9 percent of elementary school students, 31 percent of junior high school students, and 46 percent of high school students reported using generative AI.

Asked about their experience online, 22 percent said they “had become so absorbed in the internet that they were unable to concentrate on their studies or had suffered from lack of sleep.”

In addition, 15 percent said they “had exchanged messages or emails with people they met online.”

Smartphone use has also become more widespread among children. Including those without phone contracts, 67 percent of elementary school students, 90 percent of junior high school students and 98 percent of high school students used them.

“We frankly feel that children’s screentime has become longer,” an agency official said. “We’d like to analyze the impact on their mental and physical states.”