“We must protect children from all forms of exploitation,” said the Commissioner for the Protection of Children’s Rights, Elena Perikleous, in a public statement regarding the participation of children in videos posted on social media that are linked to a specific social movement concerning electricity.
As she noted, she has already sent a letter to the public figure who published the relevant material, “bringing to their attention my serious concerns regarding how the children’s participation in this particular public intervention was ensured.”
“However, I believe it is important to take a public stance, as the issue at hand goes beyond this specific case. It concerns a broader and particularly important issue of children’s rights: the way in which we, as adults, understand and ensure the meaningful participation of children in public life,” Ms. Perikleous noted.
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At the same time, she emphasized that “children’s participation is a right and cannot be turned into a means to serve the purposes or aspirations of adults. That is why, whenever children participate in public interventions or social mobilizations, we must ensure that they have been properly informed in advance, that they understand the issue on which they are being asked to take a stand, that their participation is voluntary, and that they are expressing their own opinion and not a message shaped by adults.”
He emphasized that “children have a voice. And that voice belongs to them. They have the right to be informed. To ask questions. To question. To ask for explanations. To form opinions. To demand change. To care about what is happening around them. To have an opinion about the society in which they are growing up. To defend their own rights, as well as those of others. To participate in public life and, of course, to peacefully take part in a demonstration on an issue that concerns them.”
However, Ms. Perikleous clarified that “the participation of children is one thing, and their mobilization and/or exploitation by adults is quite another.”
“Using children as a means to reinforce a political position or a public mobilization does not constitute participation. And when the particular influence an adult may exert is used to direct a child’s opinion or choice, then it may fall within the scope of manipulation,” she pointed out.
“Children cannot be a means to achieve goals set by others, nor can their voices be used to amplify the voices of adults. Adults do not speak through children. They create the space needed so that children can become informed, form opinions, exchange views, create, and make suggestions,” she added.
The Commissioner further noted that “participation has value when it is meaningful. When a child has the right information, they have the space to think, to agree or disagree, and to decide whether or not they want to participate. When the decision is their own.”
“We must protect children from all forms of exploitation, without at the same time depriving them of the right to have an opinion, to make choices, and to participate. This also applies to the digital environment. A child’s right to participate cannot be turned into an adult’s right to manipulate the child for their own purposes,” Ms. Perikleous concluded.
Source: CNA
