Child Online Protection Guidelines empowering children to exercise their rights online

Date: 10th July 2020
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The International Telecommunication Union Guidelines on Child Online Protection are a comprehensive set of recommendations for parents, educators and policy makers on how to contribute to the development of a safe and empowering online environment for children and adolescents. These updated Guidelines for children aim to create a space for dialogue between children, their parents and carers, their teacher and educators and their peers, and support children to deal with the potential risks while also empowering them to explore the opportunities of the internet.

The Guidelines consist of three resources:

1. A story book for children under 9 years old

• It presents six scenarios with questions for children to think about and answer, in order to learn about their rights and safety online. Children are guided towards the best solution for each scenario by a mascot, Sango, which was designed by children.
• Parents, carers and teachers are encouraged to read the story book with children – creating a space for discussion and learning about children’s rights and safety online.

2. A workbook for children aged 9-12

• The workbook contains educational activities which children can complete to learn about their rights online, and also risks to their safety online.
• Children are encouraged to complete the activities either at home with the help of a parent/carer, or at school with the help of a teacher.

3. A social media campaign and accompanying mini-site for children aged 13-18

• The social media campaign will be soon launched on Instagram, linked to a microsite, which contains both information and challenges for children to complete. By completing the challenges on the microsite, children will learn how to manage risks online, helping them have safe and positive experiences on the internet.

Read the Children Online Protection guidelines for parents, educators and policy makers here.