The Youth Media Day put the way young people use social media in the spotlight on 12 November 2026. ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandfunk jointly organised the nationwide programme. In Hamburg young people speaking at a media education workshop described spending a long time in front of screens and said they would like more lessons on using digital media, according to a report by Norddeutscher Rundfunk on using digital media.
The accounts given by pupils at Stellingen District School show different perspectives on the same everyday reality. Some said they kept an eye on how long they spent using media, while others described having set rules at home. One pupil thought it would be useful for teachers to talk about their own media use too. That would allow the subject to be discussed without simply lecturing young people.
According to the NDR report, the workshop run by the jaf association gave participants the opportunity to explore digital games and reflect on their own media consumption. Some also spoke about problems among people around them. Such experiences, however, do not show how common addiction is among young people overall.
A long screen time in itself is not a diagnosis. In connection with excessive media use, the Federal Ministry of Health cites loss of control, inner restlessness and increased irritability, among other signs. What matters in an assessment is how use affects someone’s life, not just how long a device is switched on. Screen time can also cover very different activities: communication, entertainment or schoolwork.
Data from the Drug Affinity Study 2023 show how widespread digital services are: according to the ministry, around 96 per cent of 12- to 17-year-olds used the internet daily at the time. A study by the German Centre for Addiction Issues in Children and Adolescents at University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf recorded social media use among 10- to 17-year-olds in September and October 2025. Respondents spent an average of 146 minutes a day on social media on weekdays and 201 minutes at weekends.
The study distinguished between risky and pathological patterns of use. For social media, 6.6 per cent of use was classified as pathological. According to the researchers, the increase compared with the previous survey was not statistically significant. The findings are based on a survey and should not be equated with an individual medical diagnosis.
This leaves parents and schools with a twofold task: they must take risks seriously without equating every instance of intensive use with addiction. Clinical guidelines on preventing problematic use of screen media recommend, among other things, agreeing rules for use and parental supervision. They also note that research into the effects of different media and types of use is inconclusive.
Youth Media Day was aimed at school classes from Year 8 upwards. In northern Germany, NDR had announced events in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and elsewhere. The programme also covered disinformation and the role of algorithms, alongside personal use of social media.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).