Speech on the protection of children and young people online

Abstract

I would like to thank ELSA for inventing me this evening. The topic is 'Freedom of Expression Online' and I was asked to talk about childrens' rights in this regard and the risks. In ten minutes. Where to start? Childrens' rights (children being human beings below the age of 18). This year we are marking the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The year was 1989 and just as an aside, the Human Rights Platform is dedicating its annual event on 10th December to this theme. So, the year was 1989, internet had been invented but had yet to go mainstream, so obviously the drafters of the convention did not cater for on line dangers. The covered a lot, for that time, and includes what I consider to be the most powerful and effective of phrases: "the interest of the child". Whatever we adults do, we must keep this firmly in mind and decide matters related to children, in this spirit. Children are not only a vulnerable group, but also they are the future. Upbringing is everything, experiences as a child go a long way in one's formation. If we want a bright future, we must look after our children. Also, for goodness sake, if we don't enjoy our childhood, what is there to enjoy?? I can say that I had a very happy childhood: life was simple, much more simple than today; I don't think we had the prospects and opportunities you have today, but we did not have the pressures either. Nobody pressured me - to have a mobile phone for example, or to have the best and latest mobile phone, because they simply did not exist. Otherwise I would have had a real problem because there is no way my parents would have bought me the kinds of phones my kids have.