Children’s Online Safety Polling Results

April 21-27, 2026
Weighted Results

**How serious of a problem, if at all, do you think children’s mental health is in New Jersey today?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Very serious	58%	370
Somewhat serious	31%	198
Not too serious	4%	27
Not at all serious	2%	16
Not sure	4%	27
Refuse	1%	4
Total	100%	642

**How much of a role, if any, do you think social media plays in children’s mental health challenges today?**
Response option	Percent	Count
A major role	91%	585
A minor role	5%	35
No role	2%	11
Not sure	1%	10
Refuse	0%	1
Total	100%	642

**How concerned are you, if at all, about children being exposed to harmful content online?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Very concerned	77%	494
Somewhat concerned	17%	107
Not too concerned	4%	25
Not at all concerned	2%	10
Not sure	1%	4
Refuse	0%	2
Total	100%	642

**Which of the following best describes your view:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Stronger regulations are needed to protect children, even if they limit some online freedoms	75%	484
Stronger regulations are needed to protect children, even if they limit some online freedoms	17%	108
Not sure	7%	44
Refuse	1%	7
Total	100%	642

Please state whether you would support or oppose each of the following legislative proposals:

**Requiring social media companies to meet stronger data privacy standards by default for users under age 18:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Support	93%	599
Oppose	5%	35
Not sure	1%	7
Refuse	0%	1
Total	100%	642

**Requiring social media platforms to display warning labels on content that may negatively affect children’s mental health:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Support	88%	568
Oppose	7%	44
Not sure	4%	28
Refuse	0%	1
Total	100%	642

**Increasing funding for school-based mental health services, including access to counselors and outside providers:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Support	79%	508
Oppose	15%	99
Not sure	5%	32
Refuse	0%	3
Total	100%	642

**Which of the following comes closer to your view?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Social media companies should bear more responsibility for protecting children online	12%	78
Parents should be primarily responsible for monitoring their children’s online activity	19%	122
Both social media companies and parents should be equally responsible	68%	437
Not sure	0%	3
Refuse	0%	2
Total	100%	642

**How familiar are you, if at all, with how algorithms powered by artificial intelligence are used by social media platforms to recommend content?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Very familiar	32%	205
Somewhat familiar	38%	244
Not too familiar	12%	80
Not at all familiar	16%	105
Not sure	1%	5
Refuse	0%	3
Total	100%	642

**Do you support or oppose increased government regulation of how artificial intelligence is used to recommend content to children online?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Support	74%	473
Oppose	18%	114
Not sure	8%	52
Refuse	0%	3
Total	100%	642

**Thinking about government regulation of technology companies overall, which do you prefer:**
Response option	Percent	Count
More regulations to protect consumers and the public	68%	439
Less regulation to promote economic growth	22%	141
Not sure	8%	53
Refuse	2%	10
Total	100%	642

Demographics

**Are you a parent or guardian?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Yes	68%	434
No	32%	203
Total	100%	642

**Do you currently have any children in grades K-12?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Yes	38%	165
No	61%	265
Refuse	1%	4
Total	100%	434

Age
Age group	Percent	Count
18-29	14%	90
30-44	22%	141
45-64	32%	205
65 and older	29%	187
Refuse	3%	18
Total	100%	642

**County recoded as region**
Response option	Percent
Gateway	47%
Northwest	12%
South	5%
Shore	18%
Delaware River	14%
Refuse	3%
Total	100%

**Hispanic/Latino Origin**
Response option	Percent	Count
Yes, Hispanic or Latino	14%	93
No	81%	520
Refuse	4%	29
Total	100%	642

**Race**
Response option	Percent	Count
White	66%	421
Black or African American	12%	79
Asian or Pacific Islander	4%	24
Other/Multiracial	11%	68
Refuse	8%	50
Total	100%	642

**Education**
Response option	Percent	Count
Less than a four-year college degree	55%	354
A four-year college degree or more	42%	270
Refuse	3%	18
Total	100%	642

**Household income**
Response option	Percent	Count
Less than $50,000	15%	93
$50,000 to less than $100,000	22%	143
$100,000 or more	46%	298
Refuse	17%	108
Total	100%	642

**Party ID**
Response option	Percent	Count
Democrat	36%	231
Republican	23%	148
Independent	28%	177
Other/Not Sure/Refuse	13%	87
Total	100%	642

**Gender**
Response option	Percent	Count
Man	48%	308
Woman	50%	321
Identify another way or refuse	2%	13
Total	100%	642

Methodology

The poll of New Jersey residents was sponsored and conducted by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. Data collection took place from April 21-27, 2026 using NJ voter list sample. A total of 642 New Jersey registered voters were interviewed. Responses were recorded via telephone or online in English. Overall, 87% of interviews were conducted on cell phones and 13% on landline phones. In terms of mode, 78% were reached via dialing with the survey administered by a live interviewer and 22% were reached via text-to-web. The live calls were conducted by Opinion Services. The text messages were sent by Stockton Polling Institute staff from the university’s Galloway campus and included a single-use link to take the survey online. The data were weighted to balance the sample demographics using iterative proportional fitting. Weights were based on the voting eligible population in New Jersey on variables of age, race/ethnicity, education level, region, and sex. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.9 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The margin of sampling error is higher for subsets. Sampling error does not account for other potential sources of bias in polls such as measurement error or non-response. The poll has a design effect of 1.26. The design effect reflects the increase in sampling variance introduced by weighting adjustments.