Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) conducted a nationally representative survey to better understand how today’s girls are using the internet and interacting with screens. The survey investigated the pressures girls feel to be online, how often they are online and more to better understand where girls are today. The data also looks into what types of content girls are most interested in as well as their understanding of online safety.
This research builds on past GSUSA research which looked at how the loneliness epidemic and issues such as body appreciation are affecting girls.
DATA AT-A-GLANCE
● More than 2 in 5 girls (41%) aged 5 to 13 years old would rather skip vacation than go somewhere with no internet
● A significant 46% of girls feel pressure to be online – even if they’re not enjoying it. ● Nearly all girls (97%) are spending time online, with 43% of girls ages 8 to 13 browsing for 3 or more hours a day. Even at ages 5 to 7, more than half of girls (58%) are spending daily time online.
● More than half of girls (56%) feel the need to be online to avoid boredom. ● Most girls (52%) feel like they have a hard time getting their mom or dad’s attention because they are on their phones.
TAKEAWAYS
Caught in the Net. Nearly half of Hispanic girls (49%) see vacation at a place with no internet as worse than skipping vacation altogether. This opinion is fairly consistent across age groups, including 45% of 5 to 7-year-olds, 47% of 8 to 10-year-olds, and 56% of 11 to 13-year-year olds. Among Black girls, 50% of 11 to 13-year-olds and 51% of 8 to 10-year-olds see WiFi-free vacation as the less appealing option, as do just 31% of 5 to 7-year-olds
Downtime Surfing. Nearly all girls (97%) are spending time online, with 43% of girls ages 8 to 13 browsing for 3 or more hours a day. But it’s not all fun and games. A significant 46% of girls feel pressure to be online – even if they’re not enjoying it. Among girls who feel this pressure, 59% believe vacationing at a place with no internet would be worse than not going on vacation at all, while just 26% of girls who don’t feel pressure to be online see this as the worse option.
Cyber Smarts. The importance of being safe online may not be getting to girls early enough. While 78% of those ages 11 to 13 recognize that what they post online can impact them as adults, the same is true of just 52% of girls ages 8 to 10 and only 43% of girls ages 5 to 7. Yet even at ages 5 to 7, more than half of girls (58%) are spending daily time online – a figure that rises to 85% by ages 8 to 10 and 91% by ages 11 to 13.
Internet > FOMO. Most adults are quick to turn to the web to keep up on everything – a habit that girls ages 11 to 13 are beginning to establish as well. For more than half of girls this age (57%), the internet is how they learn about new products and trends. Concerningly, however, more than half of girls ages 11 to 13 (51%) feel they need to spend time online because they’ll miss out on things their friends are talking about if they don’t. Just 21% of girls ages 5 to 7 and 31% of girls ages 8 to 10 echo this sentiment. Among Hispanic girls, 56% of girls ages 11 to 13 and 40% of girls ages 8 to 10 feel the need to be online to avoid missing out on things their friends will be talking about.
Family Firewalls. When it comes to tech, parents really do need to lead by example. More than half of girls who find it difficult to get their parent’s attention when they’re on their phone (57%) feel they themselves need to be online even if they don’t want to. Meanwhile, just 34% of girls who don’t have trouble getting a parent’s attention feel this pressure to be online.
Learning and Connection. The internet can certainly come with dangers, but many girls are using it in positive ways as well. While more than half (56%) feel the need to be online to avoid boredom, it’s also how 52% learn to do new things or get better at things they enjoy. In addition, 45% of girls use it to stay connected with family and friends, especially girls ages 11 to 13 (58%) and 8 to 10
(51%). Among Hispanic girls, 66% of 11 to 13-year-olds and 50% of girls ages 8 to 10 feel they need to spend time online to stay connected. Two-thirds of Black girls (67%) feel they need to spend time online to avoid boredom, while many also use the internet to learn to do new things or get better at things they enjoy (64%), learn about new products/toys and trends (54%), or stay connected with family and friends (52%)
Attention, Please. Girls aren’t the only ones spending time with technology. Most girls (52%) feel like they have a hard time getting their mom or dad’s attention because they are on their phones. This is especially true for 8 to 10-year-old girls (64%), though half of girls ages 11 to 13 (50%) and 44% of those ages 5 to 7 feel this as well. These figures are lower among Black girls: less than half (45%) feel they have trouble getting a parent’s attention because they’re on their phone, including just 35% of girls ages 5 to 7.
METHODOLOGY
The Girl Scouts Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research to 1,000 U.S. girls ages 5 to 13, with an oversample to a total of sample size of 500 African-American girls ages 5-13 and 500 Hispanic girls ages 5-13, between March 19th and June 3rd, 2025, using an email invitation and an online survey. The data has been weighted.
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