By Voop and Oxford SM · June 2026 · For children’s homes, fostering services and local authorities
Swipe. Scroll. Harm.
Safeguarding looked after children in the digital age
12,720 looked-after children went missing in a single year
Schools have phone guidance. Care homes don't.
The 10 exploitation red flags, and how a phone can spot them
What safeguarding looks like without becoming surveillance
Inside the white paper
01
Life happens on the phone
Why taking a phone away excludes a child in care, and why leaving it unmanaged exposes them.
02
A target on their backs
Who abusers look for, and what the inquiries from Rotherham to Oxford found.
03
The red flag that comes first
Why going missing is the clearest warning sign, and how a phone could help find a child faster.
04
The grooming journey
The stages abusers follow, and the 10 red flags a phone can spot.
05
Protected in school, abandoned in care
Why schools have national phone guidance and children’s homes don’t.
06
Safeguarding, not spying
Which controls children’s rights allow, and which cross the line.
07
What children told us
What looked-after children and carers want from a phone.
08
The specification
Everything a safeguarding phone system needs, from set-up to finding a missing child.
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