Protecting Students in the Digital Age

On 1st August, the Online Safety Act came into full focus aiming to protect under 18’s from harmful content they should not see online. Surveys from Ofcom has shown clear evidence of how much of a problem this is in the UK, with children as young as 8 years old having access to adult industry videos and images (GOV.2025). NSPCC CO Chris Sherwood has also stated that “We regularly hear from children who have suffered sexual and emotional abuse online, or who have been exposed to harmful and dangerous content.” (GOV.2025).

The Act restricts access to harmful content primarily by implementing age verification, including tools like facial recognition estimation. However, this may not always be accurate and the younger generation becoming more tech savvy than ever (M.Briggs, 2025), Virtual Private Networks (VPN’s) are now on a rise (L.Mcahon, 2025)  to bypass such barriers. Not to mention age verification can raise privacy concerts when collecting sensitive data especially when involving minors (L.O.Boult, 2025).

How can we help?

The bill maintains all existing safeguarding duties for schools. It adds new obligations for content management, transparency, and risk assessments (governmentevents.,2024). To meet these new demands, we introduce S4S Sentinel.

S4S Sentinel has long emphasised safe browsing, real-time device monitoring, human-and-AI safeguarding alerts, and customisable dashboards—all tools that enable schools to meet Ofcom’s expectations. Our platform enforces restrictions at the device level, not just via network filters, giving you control where it counts.  Such harmful content should be proactively minimised and not just blocked when it's too late. S4S Sentinel allows you to take a proactive approach by monitoring and taking action before incidents happen. Not to mention  S4S Sentinel filters by contextual policy and behavioural patterns, providing peace of mind without compromising trust, overcoming privacy concerns.

What is S4S Sentinel?

S4S Sentinel is an all-in-one digital tool designed to help educators manage their classrooms and ensure student safety. 

To comply with The Online Safety Act, S4S Sentinel Provides:

Conclusion

With the Online Safety Act fully enforceable as of August 2025, schools must confirm they’re protected, not just compliant. While the legislation provides a framework, it is ultimately the responsibility of schools to implement practical, reliable, and proactive measures that keep students safe in a rapidly evolving digital environment.. S4S Sentinel offers a robust, regulation ready solution that puts safeguarding at the heart of teaching and learning.

References

• GOV.UK. (2025). What’s changing for children on social media from 25 July 2025. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whats-changing-for-children-on-social-media-from-25-july-2025

• GOV.UK. (2025). Keeping children safe online: Changes to the Online Safety Act explained. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/keeping-children-safe-online-changes-to-the-online-safety-act-explained

• Government Events. (2024). Online safety in education: Protecting students in the digital age. Retrieved from https://www.governmentevents.co.uk/ge-insights/online-safety-in-education-protecting-students-in-the-digital-age/

• Briggs, M. (2025). Age verification and the challenges of digital identity. [Industry commentary].

• McCahon, L. (2025). The rise of VPN usage among young people: Circumventing online safety. [Industry analysis].

• Boult, L. O. (2025). Privacy concerns in age verification technologies for minors. [Research article].