The inescapability of the online world and its allure – its promises of perfection, of instant gratification, easy answers, and shortcuts – is a powerful and confronting aspect of modern life, and one which adults, let alone children and adolescents, struggle to navigate.
Over the past couple of years, there has been an increasing interest in the harmful effects of screens, technology, AI and especially social media on young people. At Highgate, this is something we have been alert to for some time, and we have engaged deeply with the research in this area, using it to inform our practice.
I believe this is a transitional moment in which we are being asked to reconsider our model of education, and our parenting, to help prepare young people for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world whilst fundamentally preserving their childhood. Access to technology needs to be a carefully managed journey, designed and managed in collaboration with the children, to gradually allow greater independence and freedom, whilst building trust and resilience.
As set out in our five-year School Development Plan (SDP), our vision over the next five years is to create a community in which young people, families and staff consciously and confidently navigate the online world with wisdom, critical thinking, empathy, and integrity, and have the confidence, skills and opportunities to live fully in the ‘real’ world.
Indeed, we remain a ‘tech-free school’ both in terms of having a no mobile phones policy in operation during the school day and other school activities, as well as pupils working on pen and paper still in lessons rather than using one-to-one devices. In both pastoral and academic terms, we are convinced that this is the best approach for the children’s education and wellbeing.
We know that one of the most effective protective factors against potential online harm is real life and that one way we can have a significant positive impact is to encourage young people to spend time offline. We aim to provide ‘real life’ alternatives which empower them to make positive choices for their wellbeing, behaviour and values. In School, we continue our school-wide focus on reading, which – in addition to the joyful and meditative act itself – helps us develop critical thinking, to question the things we hear, and enables us to learn, enjoy and understand our own feelings, but also empathise with others too.
Within the classroom we want to emphasise deep learning, hard work, and perseverance – building conscientiousness and driving a commitment to not taking shortcuts. Whilst all Senior School pupils are given age-appropriate guidance on using AI in their study and homework, the focus is very much on the value of human intelligence and academic integrity. If you don’t read, don’t analyse, don’t write this yourself, you won’t have the same cognitive development. Pupils need to understand that there’s no point in getting AI to do their homework for them, because to master those subjects requires you to be able to do it or, at the very least, critically check whatever AI churns out. Similarly, the teacher-pupil connection is paramount to our quality of education, so the notion of using AI to mark homework remains firmly at bay.
A specialised Digital Wisdom curriculum is being trialled in selected year groups next year and will ultimately spiral all the way through from the Pre-Prep to Sixth Form, progressively building pupils’ understanding of digital identity, ethics, emotional regulation, online consent, misinformation and algorithmic awareness, to help them conduct themselves online.
This will be accompanied by a parallel programme for parents; working with our whole community, we want to foster collaborative learning between pupils, families and staff, supporting them to explore digital technologies together. We encourage parents to uphold firm boundaries around the use of technology, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to support their children at home, and to centralise the importance of a play-based childhood.
In each of the three schools, we are continuing to help pupils build empathy and engage with differing viewpoints. We want pupils to develop the habits that really matter – curiosity, resilience, collaboration, and good judgement. We want pupils to be able to take a position on a debate, and not have their identity tied up with it, and to learn how value systems which may seem completely incompatible online can find a middle ground through in person conversation. As an example, a new Political Literacy course for Y10s will help them navigate polarised online opinions as they prepare to vote, in a world where their device might be the primary source of political news.
Our Digital Ambassador Programme will involve working with Sixth Form pupils and alumni to download their experiences and reflections on what they wish they’d known, to inform what we’re doing with younger pupils. It will also help us understand the impact of digital technologies on the changing nature of higher education and entry into the workforce as we think about their lives beyond school, and how we can help to prepare them.
We know that young people – especially during adolescence – need to take risks and they need time away from their parents to make mistakes. In a world of ‘find my phone’ and ‘AirTags’, much more of that risk-taking behaviour is happening online now: in an unsupervised space, which we know pushes children towards more extreme content. One example of how we’re responding and adapting to such threats, is through our Masculinity Working Group, who are helping us to understand more about how boys see the world – especially in terms of the online content they are fed by algorithms – and we are using this to adapt our approach to promoting positive behaviours.
Children need to learn how to be adults and we want to have open conversations with them, about building healthy relationships and developing a really good moral compass that helps them make the right decisions. They need to develop the agency to manage their own wellbeing, to know when they’re heading down the wrong avenue, and to be able to come back from that.
Technology is evolving and developing so fast that it can feel quite frightening and daunting. But let us remember that young people’s characters are malleable and full of potential. Whether we work with teens who are already glued to their smartphone or children who are yet to be exposed to this world, we have the power to shape their behaviours and attitudes positively. Like anything in bringing up children, this too is about balance and guidance – not about banning or embracing it wholesale, but about being thoughtful, hands-on, and helping them grow into people who can use these tools wisely without losing the core skills and values that really matter. Let’s hold on to hope and stay focused on developing those qualities that will shape their real lives, and their online ones too.
About the author Rebecca Golland, Deputy Head (Pastoral) Rebecca has been Deputy Head (Pastoral) at Highgate Senior School since 2021, guiding the school’s vision for an education that develops pupils’ wellbeing, belonging and purpose. She previously taught both English and Drama at the Senior School. Rebecca is a qualified yoga teacher and regularly enjoys attending the theatre.
