Beijing, 1 June, 2018—On International Children's Day, child representatives from Beijing and Guangzhou have advocated on behalf of their peers for better protection from the perils of the digital world, as well as on how to make the most of its opportunities.
The children made the call at a child online safety forum jointly hosted by the Department of Family and Children's Affairs under the All-China Women's Federation, the China National Children's Center and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Beijing. They shared the results of their research on children's online behaviour and the risks they are facing.
The forum engaged young people in debates about the future of internet governance, ensuring children's experiences and perspectives are featured in the debate around a safer and more inclusive online environment.
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©UNICEF/China/2018/Xia Yong
Rana Flowers (L3 at the back), UNICEF Representative to China, Deng Li (L4 at the back), Vice Chair of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), Bao Yun (R4 at the back), Director of the Comment Affairs Bureau under the Cyberspace Administration of China, and Wang Weiguo (R3 at the back), Deputy Director of the Office of National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, join the children in a group photo at a child online safety forum at the China National Children's Center in Beijing on 1 June, 2018. The forum, jointly hosted by the Department of Family and Children's Affairs under ACWF, the China National Children's Center and UNICEF, engaged young people in debates about the future of internet governance, ensuring children's experiences and perspectives are featured in the debate around a safer and more inclusive online environment. |
Worldwide, one in three internet users is a child, and yet – as outlined in UNICEF's The State of the World's Children 2017: Children in a digital world – too little is done to protect them from the perils of the digital world or to increase their access to safe online content.
“When children are on-line, it can be as if they are trapped in a cocoon, no-one knows what they are experiencing or suffering. It can feel very alone. Parents and policy makers alike have insufficient understanding of children's interactions on-line, making it difficult to formulate policies and approaches to eliminate the most egregious online risks,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative to China. “Children's voices matter ever more in a digital world. A world they are not only inheriting, but helping to shape. Digital policies, practices, and products should better reflect children's needs, children's perspectives and children's voices and must address the risks.”
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©UNICEF/China/2018/Xia Yong
Rana Flowers (left), UNICEF Representative to China, and Deng Li (right), Vice Chair of the All-China Women's Federation, visit UNICEF's ‘Cyber Cocoon Kids' art installation at the China National Children's Center on 1 June, 2018. Starting from 1 June, 2018, the sculptures will be on display for a month. |
At the forum, Wang Yubo and Li Hanyu, students from Beijing Dongsi 14 Hutong Primary School, shared the results of a poll they conducted among 187 fifth and sixth graders at their school. According to the poll, over 80 per cent of the respondents said they go online more than three times a week, and a third of them use the internet every day. Approximately 76 per cent of respondents said they use the internet for learning, and nearly half of them play online games. The poll also shows one in 10 respondents have been a victim of online fraud or scams.
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©UNICEF/China/2018/Xia Yong
Li Hanyu (right) and Wang Yubo (left), students from Beijing Dongsi 14 Hutong Primary School, present the results of a poll they conducted among 187 fifth and sixth graders at their school about their online experience at the China National Children's Center on 1 June, 2018. The forum, jointly hosted by the Department of Family and Children's Affairs under the All-China Women's Federation, the China National Children's Center and UNICEF, engaged young people in debates about the future of internet governance, ensuring children's experiences and perspectives are featured in the debate around a safer and more inclusive online environment. |
Joining the forum through a pre-recorded video, young people from the Guangzhou Children's Palace also noted that “live streaming has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment for children” and many children find that “there are too many online videos with negative content”.
The forum also provided a platform for four children from Beijing, Zhu Songyue, Wang Yuechen, Liu Jiayi and Kong Dehao, to exchange their perspectives on internet use with experts, industry representatives and parents as their equals.
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©UNICEF/China/2018/Xia Yong
Zhu Songyue (L4), Wang Yuechen (L3), Kong Dehao (L2) and Liu Jiayi (L1), students from Beijing Dongsi 14 Hutong Primary School, join a dialogue with Su Wenying (middle), Child Protection Officer at UNICEF China, Tong Lihua (R4), Director of Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center, Zhang Jie (R3), an associate research fellow at the Education Research Centre of the Communication University of China, Shu Mengying (R2), a representative from Tencent, and Wang Ying (R1), a parent, at the child online safety forum in Beijing on 1 June, 2018. The forum, jointly hosted by the Department of Family and Children's Affairs under the All-China Women's Federation, the China National Children's Center and UNICEF, engaged young people in debates about the future of internet governance, ensuring children's experiences and perspectives are featured in the debate around a safer and more inclusive online environment. |
Concluding the forum, Zhang Zheng and Zhang Ruohan from Beijing Dongsi 14 Hutong Primary School proposed suggestions to their peers on how to get a positive online experience, including staying away from harmful online content, not giving away private information, avoiding meeting online friends in real life without the permission of their parents, and managing screen time.
“The perspectives shared by children today underline how much they have to offer in research and policy responses. Only collective action – by governments, the private sector, children's organizations, academia, families and children themselves – can protect children from the worst digital technology has to offer, and expand their access to the best,” said Flowers.
The forum also saw the launch of a month-long exhibition of UNICEF's 'Cyber Cocoon Kids' art installation at the China National Children's Center. The concept of 'Cyber Cocoon Kids' was developed to represent the potential isolation that can occur when children inhabit a cyber world that parents and caregivers do not fully understand. The installation, composed of four sculptures, addresses the risks of cyberbullying, excessive use of the internet, online child sexual abuse and the oversharing of personal information. It was unveiled at the Fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen last December, garnering widespread attention and praise from the public.
In a strategic partnership with tech company Tencent, UNICEF is working on a Child Online Protection Project to advance a shared commitment to ensure a safe and positive online experience for all children.
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