29 May 2026
Bilbao
The Cyber-Resistance research project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and led by the University of Deusto’s Deusto Social Values research team in collaboration with the Canary Islands consultancy Opciónate – Mejora Tu Vida, has examined the third gender digital divide and gender-based online violence among children aged 5 to 13. The study was conducted in nine schools across the Basque Country and four in Gran Canaria.
The study, conducted between 2023 and 2026 in state, private and state-funded private schools, found that the digital world mirrors the inequalities present in the physical world. It identifies gender gaps in digital socialisation, including the exclusion of girls from video gaming and the sole responsibility mothers often bear for their children’s digital education. Cyber-Resistance also provides tools and educational resources designed to empower families and teaching staff.
Children: video games featuring strength and power. Girls: beauty tutorials
The study, led by University of Deusto professor Estíbaliz Linares as Principal Investigator, found that digital socialisation begins virtually from birth. What the research team refers to as the ‘digital cradle’ evolves rapidly: by the age of five or six, children are already engaging with tablets and video games. By the age of 6 or 7, they are already using their parents’ mobile phones or wearing smartwatches. The major qualitative shift occurs between the ages of eight and nine, when owning a mobile phone becomes widespread and children begin opening accounts on social media platforms such as TikTok.
Furthermore, the findings show that boys tend to dominate combat, competitive and sports video games, linking their digital identity to strength, power and violence. In contrast, girls tend to focus on image and video editing platforms, where they consume tutorials on beauty, aesthetics and dance. The research warns that this fosters pronounced hypersexualisation and encourages girls to conform to highly normative and restrictive beauty standards.
Digital exclusion and symbolic violence
The virtual environment carries gender-specific risks. The study identified a concerning pattern: girls experience explicit exclusion within online gaming communities. To avoid being insulted, belittled or removed from games by male peers, many girls feel compelled to conceal their identity, using male avatars or neutral usernames.
In addition, the study notes that both boys and girls are incidentally exposed to high-intensity pornographic or violent content at very early ages, often via devices belonging to adult family members.
Mothers educate, fathers play.
The Cyber-Resistance project has adopted an intersectional approach, analysing how families’ social and economic contexts influence outcomes. The findings show that technology is used in markedly different ways. While families in more affluent socioeconomic positions are able to apply strict parental controls and provide alternative leisure activities, in more vulnerable contexts the mobile phone becomes an essential tool for work–life balance, enabling parents—who often work night shifts—to remain in contact with their children.
Regardless of economic status, a recurring inequality is observed in almost all households: responsibility for children’s digital education falls predominantly on mothers. They are the ones who, largely on their own, bear the mental load of monitoring screen use, setting boundaries and mediating conflicts. Fathers, in general, tend to engage with technology at home primarily through play, leisure or technical support.
With regard to schools, the study reports that teaching staff express a deep sense of institutional neglect. They argue that they are being required to deal with structural issues (mental health crises, screen addiction, or online conflicts becoming evident in the classroom) that go far beyond the scope of formal education. For this reason, they urgently call for shared community responsibility, bringing together schools, families, social services and the mental health system. As a key finding, the report highlights that in the Basque Country, the most serious forms of violence experienced by children still occur physically in school playgrounds and parks, driven by racism, sexism or exclusion linked to diversity.
Educational resources for families and schools
Despite the worrying nature of the data, the research team remains optimistic about children, particularly those aged between 5 and 13, who, unlike adolescents, demonstrate great receptiveness and a high level of critical awareness. Many children say that they would like to spend less time glued to screens and express a desire to engage in more physical play with their parents.
The Cyber-Resistance project states that we are facing a window of opportunity that should be seized. To this end, the research team has designed a set of educational and practical resources aimed at families and schools to promote learning through affection, empathy and emotional regulation. The ultimate aim is to equip the educational community with strategies for collective resilience so that the internet ceases to act as an amplifier of sexism and becomes a space for equal and safe digital citizenship.
The tools developed by the research team consist of worksheets, prompts, videos and simple activities designed to challenge gender stereotypes and prevent gender-based online violence. They aim to empower the educational community (families and teaching staff) in addressing adult-centred bias and to promote healthy use of technology.
The workshops have been very well received by the participants. 95.7% of children said that the activities helped them to understand digital realities, and 88.9% also described them as fun and engaging. As for families, 100% considered them useful; 88.2% said the activities made them question and reflect on their own technology practices; and 94.1% reported that, after the workshops, they felt better equipped and more confident to support and guide their children’s digital lives. The Cyber-Resistance project is planning to launch a public awareness campaign in children’s playgrounds across six municipalities in Biscay.
