Digital tools are part of children’s and young people’s everyday lives, helping them learn, communicate and express themselves. However, issues like excessive screen time, digital distractions and interaction with harmful online content raise concerns about their impact on children’s wellbeing, both in terms of physical and mental health and in how children learn and engage in their learning process.

Digital wellbeing refers to how interacting with digital tools affects an individual’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional experience. It includes the benefits of digital engagement (e.g. feeling connected, self-realisation, empowerment, discovering new information), but also its negative effects (e.g. exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, addictive device use, lack of sleep).

The European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp 3.0) recognises wellbeing support as a component of digital skills. Research also highlights the importance of skills to manage online environments safely, critically and responsibly, while also supporting users’ mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

Schools can play a central role in promoting digital wellbeing. Pupils need structured guidance on how to take care of their online safety and develop self-regulation, critical understanding and positive digital habits. This is best pursued through a whole school approach, involving families in close collaboration. Also, ensuring adequate training, resources and institutional support is essential.

This survey gathered insights from teachers and stakeholders on digital wellbeing in schools, including key priorities, challenges encountered in practice, existing school approaches and professional development needs.

The survey gathered 424 responses, mostly from teachers in secondary schools (44%), primary schools (19%), pre-primary schools (9%) and vocational education and training (VET) schools (6%) and from school heads (4.7%). Responses were received from 38 countries, including Italy (13%), Spain (10%), Germany (10%) and Greece (8%).

1. How important do you feel digital wellbeing is in your school?

Digital wellbeing is overwhelmingly seen as a significant concern within schools, with over four in five respondents (82%) rating it as either ‘very important’ (63%) or ‘somewhat important’ (19%). A smaller share regard it as only ‘slightly important’ (12%), and just 5% feel it is ‘not important at all.’

A. Very important / B. Somewhat important / C. Slightly important / D. Not important at all / E. Not applicable / I don’t know 

2. Based on your experience or observations, which of the following challenges have you encountered in your school? 

Survey respondents have observed most often screen- and attention-related challenges, specifically excessive screen time (56%) and distraction or reduced concentration in class (54%). This is followed by overreliance on digital devices for learning (42%) and addictive or compulsive use of digital tools (41%).

Issues tied more directly to social and emotional harm, such as cyberbullying (19%), FOMO or social exclusion (29%), and anxiety or low self-esteem linked to digital use (29%), are reported to occur less often.

Across nearly all items, ‘partially’ was the most common response overall, suggesting that most challenges are present in schools to some degree rather than being either absent or widespread. Notably, cyberbullying also stands out for having the highest share of ‘I don't know’ responses (12%), alongside exposure to harmful content (12%).

A. To a large extent / B. Partially / C. Not at all / D.  I don’t know

1. Excessive screen time
2. Distraction and reduced concentration in class
3. Overreliance on digital devices for learning or problem-solving
4. Addictive or compulsive use of digital tools
5. Physical consequences, e.g. tiredness, headaches, low energy levels
6. Limited critical evaluation of online information (e.g. misinformation, algorithmic influence)
7. Lack of privacy awareness or risky online behaviour 
8. Anxiety, low self-esteem or mental health issues linked to digital use
9. Fear of missing out (FOMO) or social exclusion, pressure to be constantly online
10. Exposure to harmful or inappropriate content
11. Cyberbullying or online harassment

3. To what extent does your school address the following aspects of digital wellbeing?

Schools appear most active in pupil-facing aspects of digital wellbeing, particularly encouraging positive and meaningful uses of technology (45% selecting ‘to a large extent’) and raising awareness of online risks (44%).

Areas such as promoting responsible online behaviour (40%) and building competencies to address cyberbullying (36%) also show solid engagement. However, monitoring and addressing teachers' own digital wellbeing lagged behind, with only 21% of respondents indicating this is done ‘to a large extent’ and 33% reporting it is not addressed at all.

A. To a large extent / B. Partially / C. Not at all / D.  I don’t know 

1. Encouraging positive and meaningful uses of technology (e.g. creativity, collaboration)
2. Raising awareness of online risks to help pupils develop an understanding of risks and how to identify them
3. Promoting responsible and ethical online behaviour (e.g. respecting others’ privacy, tackling online hate speech)
4. Building learners’ competences to understand, recognise, address cyberbullying and seek help
5. Guiding pupils to develop a healthy and balanced relationship with technology (e.g. regulating screen time, encouraging positive use)
6. Helping pupils critically evaluate digital content and platforms (e.g. understanding algorithms, identifying misinformation)
7. Monitoring and addressing teachers’ digital wellbeing (e.g. impact of digital tools on workload, digital fatigue)

4. To what extent do the following statements apply to your school?

The results point to a gap between schools' intentions and what they actually implement. Procedural and relational aspects score relatively well: clear procedures for responding to incidents (76% selected ‘to a large extent’ or ‘partially’) and pupils feeling comfortable discussing concerns with staff (73%) suggest reasonably strong foundations in these areas.

However, more structural and sustained efforts lag considerably. Provision of tools or programmes to support pupils (35% selecting ‘not at all’), regular evaluation of initiatives (36% ‘not at all’) and pupil involvement in shaping policies (34% ‘not at all’) indicate that, for over a third of schools, these practices are essentially absent.

Likewise, formal strategy and follow-through actions seem to be underdeveloped in many schools: less than a third indicate having a clear digital wellbeing policy (30% selecting ‘to a large extent’) or consistent implementation of such policies (26%).

A. To a large extent / B. Partially / C. Not at all / D.  I don’t know

1. There are clear procedures for responding to digital wellbeing incidents (e.g. cyberbullying)
2. The school has a clear policy regarding digital wellbeing (e.g. as part of a general wellbeing strategy)
3. Teachers have access to adequate training and resources on digital wellbeing
4. Pupils feel comfortable discussing digital wellbeing concerns with staff
5. Digital wellbeing policies are consistently implemented in daily school practice
6. Parents are encouraged to support digital wellbeing at home
7. The school collaborates with external experts or organisations on digital wellbeing
8. Promoting digital wellbeing is a shared priority among staff
9. The school provides tools or programmes (online and/or offline) that actively support pupils’ digital wellbeing
10. The school regularly evaluates the effectiveness of its digital wellbeing initiatives
11. Pupils are actively involved in shaping digital wellbeing initiatives or policies

5. How does your school measure the digital wellbeing of learners?

Schools rely mostly on reactive, compliance-oriented methods to measure digital wellbeing, with monitoring of incidents (48%) and infringements of mobile phone policies (36%) being the most widely used approaches.

Survey-based methods are also fairly prevalent, particularly those targeting pupils (33%), though surveys of staff (28%) and parents (22%) are somewhat less common. More qualitative or relational approaches, such as drop-in sessions for informal chats (19%) and mood boards (18%), are used in fewer schools, while structured, data-driven methods like tracking trends over time (11%) or comparing pre- and post-initiative data (9%) remain the least common.

A meaningful proportion of respondents indicated that their school uses none of these methods (15%) or that they were unsure (15%).

1. Monitoring of incidents (e.g. cyberbullying, behavioural issues)
2. Monitoring infringements of mobile phone use policies
3. Running surveys for pupils
4. Running surveys for staff
5. Running surveys for parents
6. Offering open doors or drop-in sessions for pupils to have informal chats
7. Monitoring learners’ screen time on school’s devices
8. Using informal mood boards (e.g. pupils select emojis to express their feelings)
9. Using external consultancy
10. Tracking trends over a school semester or year
11. Collecting and comparing data before and after a digital wellbeing initiative

12. Offering a wellbeing platform/application where pupils report on their situation
13. Other
14. None of the above
15. I don’t know / Not applicable

6. What type of professional development on digital wellbeing have you attended in the past two years?

Looking at the past two years, online learning has been the main way teachers have engaged with digital wellbeing topics, with around half attending formal online training (51%) or informal online self-study (50%).

Onsite professional development, by contrast, has reached fewer teachers, whether through formal (23%) or informal (18%) activities. This suggests that online formats may offer easier access or be a better fit for teachers' schedules.

Networking and exchange also play a role, with over a third of respondents drawing on peer collaboration within their own school (36%), and somewhat fewer participating in international (25%) or national (20%) professional communities. At the same time, 15% of respondents reported receiving no professional development on digital wellbeing during this period.

1. Formal training online (e.g. course, workshop)
2. Informal learning online (e.g. self-study)
3. Collaboration and peer exchange with other teachers in the same school
4. Participation in a professional learning community/network at international level (e.g. an eTwinning group)
5. Formal training onsite
6. Participation in a professional learning community/network at national level
7. Informal learning onsite
8. No professional development attended
9. Not applicable (I’m not working in a school)

7. What kind of support or actions do you feel would best help improve digital wellbeing in your school?

Respondents placed the greatest emphasis on building staff capacity, with additional training (52%) and practical teaching materials and resources (48%) ranking as the top two priorities.

A clearer whole school strategy, including procedures for handling incidents (44%) and stronger collaboration with parents (41%), also featured prominently, highlighting a need for more coordinated, structural approaches alongside skills development.

Measures such as external expert guidance (32%), pupil-co-created guidelines (29%), and dedicated digital wellbeing tools (28%) were seen as moderately helpful, while more restrictive or logistical options such as mobile phone bans (26%) and additional curriculum time (25%) were comparatively lower priorities.

1. Additional training for staff on different aspects of digital wellbeing
2. Practical teaching materials and resources
3. Clearer whole school strategy, including procedure for handling incidents
4. Collaboration with parents
5. Guidance from external experts (e.g. specialists, training providers)
6. Common digital wellbeing guidelines created with pupils
7. Tools or programmes that support pupils’ digital wellbeing (e.g. screen time alerts)
8. Mobile phone bans (complete or partial)
9. More time within the curriculum to address digital wellbeing topics
10. Exchanging practices with colleagues
11. I don’t know

Discussion

Overall, the results point to a clear paradox: digital wellbeing is considered important, and schools are clearly engaged in addressing visible, day-to-day challenges through pupil-facing initiatives. However, this engagement does not consistently translate into formal, systematic action: fewer than a third of schools report having a clearly implemented digital wellbeing policy, regular evaluation of initiatives or genuine pupil involvement.

A striking gap is staff wellbeing, with teachers' own digital wellbeing the most neglected area across the survey. This stands out even as schools under-measure outcomes overall and rely heavily on reactive tools rather than proactive or long-term data collection. This is aggravated by uneven professional development. Although roughly half of teachers have accessed online training, 15% report none in the past two years.

Overall, the findings suggest that while schools have built reasonably strong foundations in awareness-raising and incident response, the path forward lies in strengthening formal strategy, evaluation, staff wellbeing and professional development. Respondents themselves identified these areas as top priorities for improvement, alongside practical resources and stronger collaboration with parents.