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Aura Releases New 2025 State of the Youth Report
Behind every notification, search history, and late-night chat, kids are building online lives that adults rarely see. Aura’s 2025 State of the Youth report combines real, anonymized device-level data with surveys of kids and parents across the U.S., giving one of the clearest pictures yet of how AI is influencing the next generation.
The report shows that AI chats may not just be playful back-and-forths. They’re places where kids talk about violence, explore romantic or sexual roleplay, and seek advice when no adult is watching. Stress around being online is also mounting, especially for preteens and girls, while families are locked in a cycle of fights over screen time. Parents are scrambling for tools to keep their kids safe without cutting them off from the internet.
The findings are a wake-up call: AI chat tools are becoming a formative force in kids’ emotional and social development, influencing how they think and cope — often quietly, and often alone.
Building on last year’s findings about device habits and parental awareness, this year’s report focuses on what kids say and do inside AI chats.
Methodology
This report draws on three sources of data. The first is Aura’s dataset from more than 3,000 children ages 5 to 17. It includes over 42,000 days of device activity and was used to examine how kids interact with AI tools, what they talk about, and how their online behavior is changing.
The second source is Aura’s TECHWISE study, which follows more than 500 children and their caregivers over time. Participants provide regular survey responses about stress, sleep, and well-being, paired with device-level data that shows how kids actually use their phones and apps.
The third source is a national survey conducted by Talker Research. The survey included 2,000 American parents of children ages 8 to 17, along with their kids who use the internet. It was fielded online from November 19 to November 25, 2025, and was commissioned by Aura.
1. Violent Content Is Common in AI Companion Use
When kids use AI, 42% of the time it’s for companionship. About 37% of those interactions involve violence, and the exchanges are unusually long. Kids who move into violent storylines type more than 1,000 words a day in these apps — more than in any other category Aura analyzed, including Sex and Romance, Friend, and Emotional Support.
Half the time violent themes appear, they happen alongside sexual roleplay. Violence also shows up across the platforms kids use most. 59% of kids surveyed say they saw at least one violent video in the past year, and 36% saw several. The survey also shows that YouTube is the most common source (62%), followed by TikTok (50%), Facebook (43%), Instagram (36%), Snapchat (23%), and X/Twitter (19%).
There are early signs that kids recognize the potential harms. Half of those surveyed said they would worry about their own screen time if they were in a parent’s position. That self-awareness sits alongside a space where violent online content is easy to find — and, in AI chats, easy to stay in.
2. Kids Are Growing Up Faster in AI Chats
Aura’s data shows that younger adolescents are entering mature conversations with AI earlier than many parents expect.
- Among 11-year-olds turning to AI for companionship, 44% of conversations involve violence; this is higher than any other age group.
- At 13, sexual or romantic roleplay becomes the most common topic in AI-companion chats, appearing in 63% of conversations for that age.
- The interest doesn’t hold for long. After 15, sexual and romantic roleplay drop sharply, suggesting that early teens — not older ones — are the most curious about these themes in AI chats.
- By 16, another turn appears. 19% of conversations at this age take the form of emotional support.
Parents say they’re watching these changes happen earlier than they remember from their own childhood. 86% of surveyed parents believe kids are growing up faster than previous generations, and 34% say children start acting like teenagers at 11 or 12.
3. Kids Can’t Unsubscribe From Digital Stress
Across the device data, teens 13–17 who spend more time on social media show higher levels of digital stress. The idea comes from the Digital Stress Scale (Hall et al., 2021), which Aura also used in its earlier report on kids’ digital stress. The scale defines five pressures: approval anxiety, availability stress, connection overload, fear of missing out (FOMO), and online vigilance.
Among preteens (8–12), those on social media report nearly 40% more digital stress than peers who stay off. Girls are more active on the platforms where stress is most often reported: 64% use social media, compared with 52% of boys; 57% use AI tools, compared with 41% of boys.
Families are feeling the strain, according to Talker Research. Nearly half believe technology is harming their child’s emotional well-being — 51% cite concerns for girls, compared with 36% for boys. Many are tightening rules at home: 50% set screen-time limits, 64% require approval for online purchases, and 49% withhold devices until chores or homework are done.
4. Device Rules Are Creating Rifts at Home
Nine in ten parents say they argue with their kids about device use, more often than about chores or homework. Taking a device away rarely resolves the issue; 59% of parents say it usually starts an argument. At the same time, 57% of surveyed parents say they use their phones more than their kids, even while cracking down on tech use at home.
Kids tell a similar story. Technology is the number one reason they clash with their parents. Losing a device leaves most feeling frustrated (56%) or annoyed (50%), and only 16% say the consequence helps. Sixty-two percent of surveyed kids say they wish they could flip the script and take away their parents’ phones.
Both groups agree on what sets these fights off: too much screen time, bedtime phone use, gaming, device use during meals or family time, social media, and inappropriate content. These findings come from the national parent–child survey conducted for this report.
For the complete findings, download the full report: Aura’s State of the Youth Report 2025 (PDF) →
Related Resources
Kids and AI: Aura Finds Kids Turning to AI in Disturbing Ways
Data: 59% of Americans Fear AI Could Hack Bank Accounts
Are AI Chatbots Safe for Kids?
New Data: Many Parents Unaware of the Apps Kids Are Using
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