Many students are drowning in addictive technologies: let’s look to rewire their brains by building positive tech savvy agency
Thursday, 8 October 2026
0730-0845
Room: To be advised
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To register for this breakfast Masterclass, please do so during the registration process. If you have already registered for conference and would like to attend the breakfast, please email [email protected]u to add this to your registration. Please note places are limited.
Breakfast Overview
Digital wellbeing issues are not going away, they are accelerating. Social media continues to shape behaviour and identity despite the ban, gaming platforms are gripping kids from younger ages, and more students are turning to AI chatbots for connection, reassurance and answers. We now have a generation growing up in an always-on, dopamine-driven environment, which is changing how young people show up in classrooms, friendships, at home, and in their communities.
Schools are working hard to keep up with each new disruption, but a platform-by-platform response will always leave us behind. Social media, gaming and AI are not separate problems to solve, they are symptoms of an underlying problem. The reality of the this digital world is that kids are experiencing increased learned helplessness, an epidemic of loneliness, and lower confidence in their ability to try.
If schools don't work to address this root cause, educators will continue reacting to an endless stream of wellbeing issues that arise from whichever technology comes next.
This masterclass breakfast reframes digital wellbeing as a student agency issue, not a technology issue. When students feel capable, connected and responsible for their own growth, they rely less on their digital dopamine fixes, and their ability to navigate future technologies increases. Rather than trying to predict the next platform, schools must work to build students' resilience, self-esteem and accountability for their actions so students use technology consciously rather than compulsively. The goal is not less technology, but stronger students who can handle what the digital world throws at them.