The New Safety Net: Navigating Student Mental Health and Digital Wellness in an AI-Saturated World

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Tammy Wincup, CEO at Securly; Richard Culatta, CEO at ISTE+ASCD; Curtis Lewis, Founder and President at Boldly Moving Education Ahead (BMEA); Solome Tibebu, President at Behavioral Health Tech; and Aaliyah A. Samuel, Education Consultant.Speakers explored how today’s students are growing up in a radically different environment shaped by constant connectivity, AI-powered tools, digital surveillance, and intensifying mental health pressures. They discussed how these shifts are expanding the role of schools beyond traditional education, requiring broader, more integrated safety nets that combine mental health support, social-emotional learning, digital citizenship, online safety, and emerging AI safeguards. The conversation highlighted how education and technology leaders are working to address new risks thoughtfully—without overcorrecting—by balancing protection with trust, safety with student agency, and offline wellbeing with online resilience to better support the whole child in an increasingly complex digital age.