Kids
included

Consulting children as part of child rights due diligence in relation to the digital environment is not only increasingly expected of companies to demonstrate responsible conduct, but also promises to be a valuable tool in identifying and managing child rights risks arising from digital technologies, while creating value for business. As children’s engagement with digital technologies, for everything from education to entertainment, promises to continue growing over the coming years, action on these issues could not be more urgent or timely.

says Josianne Galea Baron and Fabio Friscia

Through collaborative research and design relationships with children — even very young children, and sometimes in partnership with their caretakers — organisations can develop meaningful, positive digital play and learning experiences that are optimised to children’s needs.

says Kim Foulds, Becca Seibert Nest, Emily Reardon of Sesame Workshop

To design something truly creative and, at the same time, inclusive of children’s needs, let’s include children’s creativity and their rights in the design process.

says Wouter Sluis-Thiescheffer

Providing kids free rein and letting them figure things out their way works and even better; it makes kids and their creativity thrive.

says Emi Gunér, Maria Hallgren, Petter Karlsson of Toca Boca

Voice is not enough. In our view, one promising way forward is to require companies and governments to make youth participation part of so-called child rights impact assessments when a new digital product, service, or policy that may directly or indirectly impact children’s rights is designed, deployed, or evaluated.

says Hans Martens

Digital technology creates an opportunity to empower children and to foster their well-being on a whole new level, but unless we collectively put children front and centre, we risk missing out on this opportunity.

says Chris Payne, Aimee Bryan of The LEGO Group

Take our ideas seriously and keep us in the conversation. Children know children best!

says the Children and Young People Panel

Sustained cross-cultural child participation can deliver deep and enduring value for children, businesses, and communities. Ultimately, for all parties to benefit, private enterprise needs to redouble their efforts to work ethically with children to realise their rights, to connect with diverse communities, and to invest more consistently in child participation.

says Prof. Amanda Third

Companies should learn that neurological variations are a common aspect of the brain and seek to include and affirm the needs of people with variations rather than treating them as having conditions that need to be cured.

says Dr Ronah Harris

Opportunities to engage with kids in their native digital space are boundless, and the scope for digital ethnography, observing how kids and young people behave and interact, is particularly exciting. Engaging with them at the actual point of consumption in their natural environment, with new innovative interaction formats, will bypass some of the artificiality of current research practices. Metaverse platform research will also enable global research at a scale not seen before.

says Max Bleyleben, Sam Clough of Super Awesome

Research methods shouldn’t ask a child, or anyone, to step out of their world into the research world. Additionally, it is imperative to make sure children are part of the process in an explicit way. That’s going to be the next big step in the world of research data, people understanding the information, the data they are providing, and the research and brand world understanding the value and paying for it as well.

says Rebecca Stringer, Dan Jacobs, Pete Robinson of KidsKnowBest

Company leaders who seek to explore this field further are encouraged to take a pragmatic approach in terms of “thoughtful experimentation.” Start somewhere concrete and learn over time. “Build, iterate, and expand” is the credo in the emerging theory and practice of youth engagement.

says Sandra Cortesi

Listening to young people tell their stories gives us insight on what digital skills they have and what skills they are developing. We believe designing resources meant for young people WITH young people is an opportunity to create better engagement on the choice and controls available to our young customers and greater privacy transparency for a safer internet for all.

says Aimee Duran of Microsoft

A diverse ecosystem of actors can be the drive towards two mutually reinforcing goals, the advancements for AI for good and the benefits for the best interest of all children. 

says Vicky Charisi

Children can create a future with equal opportunities. We must equip them with tools that reflect equality, rather than the biases of the past. We dream of a future where humans have bridged the cultural divides and stand united with the aid of our empathic robots in a hybrid society.

says Randy Gomez of Honda Research Institute Japan

Be curious and open to learning from children. Don’t do it as a formality, but really listen to children and young people and try to understand their perspectives. It will be valuable, and you can use it in many ways to improve the business and the lives of children.

says Heddy Ring of Telia Company