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.