Students are back at their desks under pressure from the workload, tests and performance anxiety. But when they don’t understand something, they don’t look for help from adults: two out of three kids turn to AI or Google, while barely 8% raise their hand and ask the teacher for clarification.

It’s the picture that emerges from three instant polls on Back to School 2026 that Studenti, the benchmark media brand in digital education, submitted to its community (around 1,500 responses received) in order to understand how the way of studying is changing, the sources young people ask for help from and the concerns linked to returning to school.

The data also show that AI, rather than being seen as a shortcut, is perceived by kids as a tool capable of helping them understand better.

THE RESULTS OF THE THREE INSTANT POLLS CONDUCTED BY STUDENTI

1 – To understand, AI and Google first. Adults slip into the background

• When they encounter a difficult topic, two out of three kids (66.6%) turn immediately to artificial intelligence or Google.

• Human support slips into the background: 12.8% ask a trusted adult or a private tutor for help, 12.6% consult with classmates.

• Barely 8% ask the teacher for clarification during the lesson. A figure that shows how much digital tools have now entered the daily routine of study; AI and Google are always available and offer immediate answers.

The data highlight a contrast: the new generations feel the weight of academic expectations from adults, but when they need help they tend to turn elsewhere.

2 – Returning to school? Weighing down is above all the pressure

For students, the main difficulty of Back to School is school pressure.

• Over 50% indicate the workload of homework, tests and performance anxiety, as the heaviest aspect of returning to school.

• Followed, with 26.6%, by the return to school rhythms, between early wake-ups and reduction of free time.

• More contained are the concerns about socializing with classmates, indicated by 12.4%, and about the judgment of teachers, at 10.5%.

Returning is therefore experienced above all as a performance-related challenge.

3 – AI and critical awareness: for almost one in two kids it helps to understand better

• Over 45% of students state that AI helps them understand concepts better, 21.2% appreciate it above all because it allows them to save time and 9.5% use it to organize their study better.

• Only 6.1% recognize that it can sometimes lead them to reason less and barely 2.5% declare using it mainly to get ready-made answers.

• 15.3%, on the other hand, do not use AI to study.

AI emerges therefore above all as a tool to support understanding, but the ability to use it in a critical and conscious way remains central.

STUDENTI+: THE EXPERIENCE WITH THE AI TUTOR GAIA IS ENRICHED

Alongside editorial storytelling, Studenti expands the concrete tools made available to its community. Gaia, the AI tutor already available on the site, evolves within Studenti+, the free personal area accessible via registration and login, with new features designed to accompany kids in learning and revision.

With Studenti+, young people can transform notes and teaching materials into summaries and conceptual maps, create quizzes and flashcards, find answers to their doubts and organize content by subject. A dedicated environment for school that enhances the potential of artificial intelligence without replacing the student, fostering more organized learning and a conscious use of AI guided by critical awareness.

STUDENTI ON INSTAGRAM: FROM SCHOOL TO THE FUTURE

On the occasion of Back to School, Studenti also renews its presence on Instagram, with the goal of speaking above all to an over-18 community and accompanying them from high school to the choice of study path, right up to entry into the world of work.

Gen Z current affairs, educational and career guidance, topics and issues concerning new generations, psychological well-being, society and stories that deserve to be told.

Among the new short video formats there will be “School Alert”, with Esmeralda Moretti, a daily pill dedicated to the main news from the school world and student life, and “Orienteering”, with Noemi David, a weekly appointment dedicated to the opinions and sentiment of over-18s on school, guidance, society, generational trends and current affairs topics.

Studenti is the Mondadori Digital media brand leader in Italy on digital in the education category, with 3.4 million unique web users (source Comscore – May 2026). It is a benchmark for New Gens at school, but not only, thanks to a dynamic and continuously evolving editorial offering, characterized by innovative languages and content: a formula that has allowed Studenti to reach over 1.2 million followers on social media – across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp – where students can access guides and tutorials to prepare for exams, receive support with AI tools in a safe place, to orient themselves in their educational and professional future and find resources to better live their experience, under every aspect, including personal well-being.