YouTube Usage in K‑12 Schools in 2026 A data-driven look at student viewing habits Schedule a call to see your district's data

School districts are increasingly evaluating how students are spending time on technology in schools. A recent Wall Street Journal 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 7.5
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
Elementary (1-5) 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
Grade 25th Percentile
PK & KG Under .5 min
Elementary (1-5) Under .6 min
Middle (6-8) Under .9 min
High (9-12) Under 1.5 min
Grade 50th Percentile
PK & KG 1.7 - 4.3 min
Elementary (1-5) 3.9 - 4.1 min
Middle (6-8) 3.7 - 4.5 min
High (9-12) 5.5 - 6.1 min
Grade 90th Percentile
PK & KG 31 - 33 min
Elementary (1-5) 28 - 33 min
Middle (6-8) 21 - 22 min
High (9-12) 25 - 26 min
Grade 99th Percentile
PK & KG 28 students over 6 hrs
Elementary (1-5) 911 students over 5 hrs
Middle (6-8) 1272 students over 3 hours
High (9-12) 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 5: Student adoption of YouTube

Month Platform
students YouTube
students Adoption
%
Feb 2026 967,600 545,290 56.4
Mar 2026 1,012,026 580,176 57.3
Apr 2026 1,100,572 616,227 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: Table 6: 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
Rank Elementary (K-5)
1 docs.google.com
2 login.i-ready.com
3 www.lexiacore5.com
4 www.ixl.com
5 www.youtube.com
6 www.google.com
7 math.imaginelearning.com
8 www.getepic.com
9 classroom.google.com
10 www.gimkit.com
Rank Middle (6-8)
1 docs.google.com
2 www.youtube.com
3 www.google.com
4 classroom.google.com
5 www.ixl.com
6 login.i-ready.com
7 learning.amplify.com
8 mail.google.com
9 www.canva.com
10 www.desmos.com
Rank High (9-12)
1 docs.google.com
2 www.youtube.com
3 www.google.com
4 classroom.google.com
5 mail.google.com
6 www.desmos.com
7 www.canva.com
8 web.kamihq.com
9 apclassroom.collegeboard.org
10 drive.google.com

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