YouTube Usage in K‑12 Schools in 2026
A data-driven look at student viewing habits
School districts are increasingly evaluating how students are spending time on technology in schools. A recent Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new tab. article described a scenario where a student was able to watch hours of YouTube videos. Securly investigated the norm across our network of schools.
This report was created from aggregated, de-identified usage data from schools and districts using Securly Reveal. This analysis was conducted in accordance with strict data protection agreements and our partner districts' policies. The data processed through our system contains no PII, and is already de-identified before aggregation.
Research Methodology
- Analysis Date Range: February - April 2026 (3 Months)
- School Timeframe: School day filter schedule (8:00 am - 3:00 pm)
- Unique Districts: 380 districts
- Student Numbers: 610,000 students
- Total videos watched: 155,000,000 videos
- Total YouTube time: 3,600,000 hours
- Tool Utilized: Securly Reveal analyzes technology usage when the school-issued computer is actively being used by a student.
Insight 1: Time per day
Over the last 90 days, on average students spent between five and nine minutes per day on YouTube during the school day.
The tables below provide a summary by grade, during the school day.
Table 1: Student Daily Average (Minutes)
Grade | Daily Avg. |
|---|---|
Elementary (K-5) | 5.3 |
Middle (6-8) | 7.6 |
High (9-12) | 8.3 |
Table 2: Student Daily Usage Per Grade (Minutes)
Grade | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | Daily Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-K | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
Kindergarten | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
Grade 1 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
Grade 2 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 5.1 |
Grade 3 | 6.1 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.6 |
Grade 4 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.3 |
Grade 5 | 7.0 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 6.5 |
Grade 6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 7.8 |
Grade 7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 7.8 |
Grade 8 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.5 |
Grade 9 | 9.1 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 |
Grade 10 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
Grade 11 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
Grade 12 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.4 |
Insight 2: Student percentile ranges
The percentile range shows a small number of students (less than 1%) are responsible for the extreme ranges (e.g. hours). Approximately 10% of all students across all grades are averaging more than 26 minutes of YouTube per day, with the majority averaging less than 6 minutes.
Table 3: Student Percentile Distribution (Minutes)
Grade | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 90th Percentile | 99th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PK & KG | Under .5 min | 1.7 - 4.3 min | 31 - 33 min | 28 students over 6 hrs |
Kindergarten | Under .6 min | 3.9 - 4.1 min | 28 - 33 min | 911 students over 5 hrs |
Middle (6-8) | Under .9 min | 3.7 - 4.5 min | 21 - 22 min | 1272 students over 3 hours |
High (9-12) | Under 1.5 min | 5.5 - 6.1 min | 25 - 26 min | 1574 over 2.5 hours |
Insight 3: Time spent per video
The average watch time per video actually decreases as grade goes up — Grade 1 students watched fewer videos but longer ones (2.6 min avg), while middle schoolers watch nearly seven videos per day at just over 1 minute each. This suggests younger kids are sitting down for intentional viewing, while middle schoolers are perhaps rapidly browsing. High schoolers revert toward longer sessions (1.5–1.7 min), possibly reflecting more focused research or assignment-related use.
Table 4: Student Daily YouTube usage behavior (Minutes)
Grade | Avg daily YouTube time (min) | Avg watch time per video (min) | Avg daily videos per student |
|---|---|---|---|
Elementary (K-5) | 5.3 | 2 | 2.9 |
Middle (6-8) | 7.6 | 1.2 | 6.6 |
High (9-12) | 8.3 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
Table 5: Student Daily YouTube usage behavior, per Grade
Grade | Avg daily YouTube time (min) | Avg watch time per video (min) | Avg daily videos per student |
|---|---|---|---|
Pre-K | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
Kindergarten | 3.6 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
Grade 1 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
Grade 2 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
Grade 3 | 5.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 |
Grade 4 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
Grade 5 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
Grade 6 | 7.8 | 1.1 | 6.9 |
Grade 7 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 6.7 |
Grade 8 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 6.2 |
Grade 9 | 9.2 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
Grade 10 | 8.6 | 1.6 | 5.6 |
Grade 11 | 8.1 | 1.7 | 4.9 |
Grade 12 | 7.4 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
Insight 4: Student adoption
Adoption % = how many unique students visited YouTube at least once in the month. The percent of students that visit YouTube is steady around slightly more than 56% of all students.
Table 6: Student adoption of YouTube
Grade | Avg daily YouTube time (min) | Avg watch time per video (min) | Avg daily videos per student |
|---|---|---|---|
Feb 2026 | 967,600 | 545,290 | 56.4 |
Mar 2026 | 1,012,026 | 580,176 | 57.3 |
Apr 2026 | 1,100,572 | 616,277 | 56 |
Avg | 56.6 |
Insight 5: Sites adoption
YouTube ranks in the top 10 by time spent for every grade band — #5 in elementary and #2 in middle and high school — yet educational platforms still dominate for younger kids, with docs.google.com and i-Ready leading the elementary list.
Table 7: Top website rankings, time spent
Rank | Elementary (K-5) | Middle (6-8) | High (9-12) |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | docs.google.com | docs.google.com | docs.google.com |
2 | login.i-ready.com | www.youtube.com | www.youtube.com |
3 | www.lexiacore5.com | www.google.com | www.google.com |
4 | www.ixl.com | classroom.google.com | classroom.google.com |
5 | www.youtube.com | www.ixl.com | mail.google.com |
6 | www.google.com | login.i-ready.com | www.desmos.com |
7 | math.imaginelearning.com | learning.amplify.com | www.canva.com |
8 | www.getepic.com | mail.google.com | web.kamihq.com |
9 | classroom.google.com | www.canva.com | apclassroom.collegeboard.org |
10 | www.gimkit.com | www.desmos.com | drive.google.com |
Schedule a call to see how it works