Internet use by Brazilian kids in schools falls from 51% to 37%
Internet use by Brazilian kids aged 9 to 17 in schools fell in 2025, as per a study entitled Tic Kids Online Brasil 2025, released this week. According to the survey, users within this age group who go online in schools fell from 51 percent last year to 37 percent this year.
In the view of Tic Kids Coordinator Luísa Adib, this decline can be partly explained by a new law restricting cell phone use in Brazilian schools, passed earlier this year.
“We began collecting data for the survey in March, when the measure restricting cell phone use in schools had already been implemented. Therefore, we can see a relationship between cell phone restrictions and the decline in internet access at school,” she told Agência Brasil.
Other factors were also named. “I think they are also influenced by the political debate, which is heavily focused on the agenda of protecting children and adolescents, as well as the digital environment,” she pointed out.
Steady use rates
The study, conducted by the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), linked to the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), points out that the number of children and adolescents aged 9 through 17 who claim to have never gone online also grew this year. While last year this group totaled 492,393, in 2025 710,343 people in this age group reported never having done so.
It was also found, however, that the number of kids with internet access remained relatively stable compared to the previous two years.
According to the figures, 92 percent of children and adolescents aged from 9 to 17 across the country are internet users – a percentage lower than what the survey showed last year (93%) and the year before (95%). This means that nearly 24.6 million people in this age bracket have logged on to the internet in the last three months in Brazil.
Despite the relative stability, the coordinator noted there have been changes in how the internet is used.
“We are beginning to see a decline in internet access at school and a decline in social media use among younger age groups, back to a level similar to what we had before the pandemic,” she argued.
The study found that cell phones were the main device used to access the internet by the 9–17 age group, cited by 96 percent of respondents – followed by television (74%), computers (30%), and video games (16%).
According to the survey, 84 percent of users in this age group go online from home several times a day. At school, 12 percent reported going online several times a day, 13 percent once a week, and nine percent once a month.
Among the uses of the internet by this age group are school research (81%), research on topics of interest (70%), reading or watching news videos (48%), and health information (31%).
“We already had data [from other surveys] indicating that multimedia activities were among the most popular and that 80 percent said they had watched videos. But we wanted to know what videos these were. We looked into some options, and the ones that appear most often and frequently are those made by influencers,” explained the study coordinator, adding that nearly half (46%) of kids aged 9 through 17 access the internet to watch videos made by influencers. And this happens several times a day.
Mediation
As internet use can be associated with risks, the study coordinator warned parents to be aware of their children’s access. “We know from research that active mediation is more effective. So, when there is dialogue and monitoring of the child’s practices, this tends to have more effective results,” she noted.
She also argued it is important for the platforms themselves to provide some form of mediation – which is already stipulated in the digital version of Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA).
“But it is important to know that no single strategy will be effective. So, from the moment that the guardian makes use of a technical tool [from the platforms], it will work if it is aligned with active mediation through dialogue, monitoring, and follow-up support,” she argued.
The survey
The study interviewed 2,370 children and adolescents aged 9 through 17 from across Brazil, plus 2,370 parents and guardians, from March to September this year.
Tic Kids Online Brasil has been conducted annually since 2012 and was only not carried out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
