Technology, choice and safeguarding: supporting children's digital lives in education and at home

Schools are entering a new era of digital accountability. As policies on smartphones, social media, AI, screen time and EdTech emerge in quick succession, the challenge is ensuring legitimate concerns about specific technologies do not undermine confidence in technology's broader role in teaching and learning.

Within this environment, techUK and BESA are collaborating with the wider sector to bring together policymakers, researchers and practitioners in order to take stock of that picture and to work through what it means for schools in practice. 

Key takeaways

• Understand where safeguarding, screen time and digital equity policy are pulling in the same direction, and where they are pulling apart

• Hear how schools are responding in practice, without retreating from evidence of what works

• Consider the parent-facing side of these policies, and where bans and restrictions risk creating distance between schools and families rather than shared understanding

• Contribute to a shared, evidence-led view of technology's place in education

Agenda

13:00 – 13:10 | Arrival and refreshments

13:10 – 13:20 | Welcome and scene-setting

13:20 – 14:05 | Panel one: safeguarding, learning and digital equity, how the policy currently overlaps
Panel discussion
A frank look at how these strands collide as much as they align. Government is backing AI tutors for disadvantaged pupils while consulting on screen time limits, publishing AI product standards while still working out how to assess whether tutoring tools actually work, and encouraging digitally mature schools while public concern about the products themselves keeps building. This panel asks what these tensions mean in practice, and whether the policy landscape is currently pulling schools in one direction or several at once.

14:05 – 14:15 | Break

14:15 – 15:00 | Panel two: policy meets practice, how schools are actually responding
Panel discussion
How schools navigate these strands without retreating from evidence that technology, used well, delivers good outcomes, and without letting the loudest concerns crowd out the quieter case for what works. This panel also turns to parents, since some of these policies are landing as bans and restrictions handed down to families, and risk driving a wedge between schools and parents rather than building the shared understanding that better outcomes depend on.

15:00 – 15:30 | Audience engagement and networking

Who should attend

• School and trust leaders responsible for safeguarding, digital strategy or EdTech procurement

• Designated safeguarding leads and pastoral staff

• Policymakers and officials working across DfE, DSIT and online safety policy

• Researchers working on child safety, screen time or digital wellbeing

• Parent and family organisations with an interest in children's digital lives

• EdTech suppliers and platform providers working with schools

Why this matters now

This event forms part of techUK's wider work through the Our Digital Promise Coalition, a sector-wide engagement effort bringing together stakeholders from across education, industry and policy. As technology in schools becomes more complex, and attracts growing attention from both policymakers and the public, there is a risk that this creates confusion and division rather than clarity, leaving schools to navigate competing pressures largely on their own. This event is one part of a continued effort to work through that complexity with the sector, rather than around it.

Get in touch

If you have questions about this event, or would like to discuss the Education and EdTech Programme more broadly, please get in touch through my bio below.