Programme - Day 1
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Welcome and introduction
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REGULATION: Driving change for children: Safer online experiences
Six months after the publication of the Children’s Code of Practice, this session will explore children’s experiences online, the expectations on tech companies to make children’s experiences safer and what we have learnt so far from the implementation of the Online Safety Act.
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ONLINE RISKS: The Dark Web: What professionals need to know
Research shows many professionals, parents and carers do not understand the dark web and feel unequipped to talk to a young person about it should the need arise. This session will provide an overview of, legality, how to access it and what can be found on the dark web.
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ONLINE SAFETY: Developing preventative education through the voice of the child
This session focuses on the work of Lincolnshire County Council’s evidence-led preventative education partnership and will cover:
• How services in Lincolnshire capture the voice of the child
• The development of online safety sessions with relevant themes, messaging and activities for children, young people and parents
• The impact of the voice of the child and how to frame risk to parents and carers
Speaker
Community Safety Strategy Co-ordinator and lead for preventative education
Lincolnshire County Council
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Break
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ONLINE HARM Cybertrauma: how online harm can result in traumatic responses
This session will provide an overview of 15 years of research. It will:
• Set out what online harms are and what they can result in for users, bystanders and viewers of content online
• Look at child development in a world of technology and why professionals need an understanding of this to safeguard children and young people robustly
• Explore how to provide contextual safeguarding in places we cannot see
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DIGITAL LITERACY: Digital vaccination: Protecting children from fake news
• Why we need a digital vaccination
• Ambitions for the school curriculum and insights from the Child of the North toolkit for improving health and wellbeing
• Early insights from the Centre for Young Lives’ deep dive into Looksmaxxing - a term used to describe the process of maximising your physical appearance, popularised via social media
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AI: Keeping pace with a phenomenon that is changing all the time
• What has changed in children’s use of AI over the last year – and what has stayed the same
• Legal precedents around generated harms
• Practical questions, tools and conversation starters to help professionals talk with children and families about AI and to sense-check their own policies in a fast-moving landscape
Close of day 1
Programme - Day 2
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Welcome and introduction
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INDECENT IMAGES: Tackling indecent images: protecting children
This presentation explores the rise of indecent image sharing among children and highlights the vital role of Childline’s Report Remove tool in challenging the problem.
This session will:
• Cover the growing number of children affected by indecent image sharing and its impact
• Share how the Report Remove tool challenges the issue by removing the content
• Explore how professionals can prevent and identify incidents and provide effective support to those affected
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MENTAL WELLBEING: Beyond screen time: rethinking digital engagement and mental health in adolescence
Drawing on findings from LSE’s DIORA (Dynamic Interplay of Online Risk and Resilience) project, this presentation explores how adolescents’ everyday digital engagement shapes their mental health and wellbeing and what this means for professionals. It will explore:
• How most adolescents’ online activities are emotionally positive but some risky behaviours can have negative effects on mental health and wellbeing
• The wide variation in outcomes, with some adolescents experiencing digital spaces as supportive while others face anxiety, comparison, or exclusion
• How many young people are already developing effective coping strategies
Speaker
Post-doctoral research officer and Manager of the Digital Futures
Children centre, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
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INCEL CULTURE: Tackling online misogyny and incel culture
Details of this session to be confirmed
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Break
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DATA: How data shapes children’s lives
Drawing on recent research for the Information Commissioner’s Office, this session will explore how children’s everyday experiences shape - and are shaped by - the data they share. It will explore how young people’s social worlds, parental oversight and attitudes towards privacy shift as they grow up and the implications for professionals in ensuring children’s data rights are protected.
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INFORMATION SHARING: Sharing personal information to safeguard children: yes, you can
Following the publication of new guidance on information sharing for education settings including schools and nurseries, this session will explore:
• How data protection doesn’t prevent you from sharing information for safeguarding purposes
• How data protection helps you share information in the right way
• How the new guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office can help you
Speaker
Principal Policy Adviser, Parliament and Government Affairs Team
Information Commissioner’s Office
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TRAINING: Understanding the language of grooming
This session introduces an interactive multimedia training tool developed by Swansea University, designed to deepen child safeguarding professionals’ insight into groomer-and-child communication online.
• Understand the linguistic and behavioural patterns typical of online grooming interactions
• Explore what the DRAGON (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online) shield tool can offer and how it can be embedded into safeguarding training and practice
• Explore strategies for embedding the tool into ongoing professional development to strengthen real-world safeguarding outcomes
Speakers
Professor of Applied Linguistics and Principal Investigator
Project DRAGON, Swansea University
Research Affiliate, Applied Linguistics and Public Policy and Deputy Lead, Online Grooming Shield Tool
Project DRAGON, Swansea University
Close of conference