In this article we examine the process of construction and transformation of the meanings surrounding the serious violations of the Right to Identity in Argentina and Chile, which encompass from child appropriations during dictatorships to so called “irregular adoptions.” We inquire about how activists have built their public claims of justice and reparation. We discuss the singularities and differences of these processes in both countries and the current challenges, particularly in the construction of those affected as victims of human rights violations.
Soledad Gesteira, Irene Salvo Agoglia, Carla Villalta et al.
This paper analyses the empirical data of school occupations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during 2016 to discuss the production of novel generational orders around the good of public education. Using a decolonial standpoint from where to examine modernization in Brazil and its welfare provision for children, the paper advances the notions of intergenerational practices of co-generativity and politicized generativity as instances of how Southern realities can contribute to new theoretical insights in childhood studies.
Like childhood, thinking critically about militarism can entail a great deal of unlearning before coming to a more nuanced understanding of what lies beyond the signifier. Just as childhoods are multiple, overlapping, contingent, and bound up in many more aspects of our social worlds than is apparent if we look only for the child, so too militarism. The ways in which militarisms intersect childhoods and vice versa, therefore, call us to reflect not only on the conspicuous presence of militaries as institutions or on life in zones of conflict, but on the everyday lives of children everywhere in all their complexity and diversity.
This article develops a critical theory of adultism that can help both childhood studies and the larger academy to make visible the normative marginalization of children as children. Going beyond existing critical theories concerning sexism, racism, colonialism, and the like, adultism is formulated as a theory of normative disempowerment. In this way, it can function intersectionally to uncover the distinctive role of dominating adult-child binary oppositions both in childhood and across societies generally. After unpacking the history of concepts of adultism, the article constructs a systemic theory of adultism across three dimensions of ontological human being, epistemological knowledge, and political power.
Child Helpline International is closely following the landmark proceedings brought by 29 US states against Meta, concerning allegations that Facebook and Instagram have used design features that encourage compulsive and excessive use among children and young people. The case forms part of growing scrutiny worldwide of the impact that engagement-driven digital design can have on children’s wellbeing. These concerns are not confined to the United States. In Europe, the European Commission has preliminarily found that the addictive design of Facebook and Instagram may breach obligations under the Digital Services Act, highlighting features including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and highly personalized recommender systems. Similar preliminary findings concerning TikTok were announced earlier this year. For Child Helpline International, these developments point to a wider issue. Testimony in the US proceedings alleges that concerns about harms to children were repeatedly raised within Meta itself, including with senior executives, without sufficient action being taken. Protecting children online cannot depend upon regulators identifying and pursuing harmful practices one platform at a time, often through investigations and legal proceedings that can take years to conclude. During that time, millions of children continue to encounter digital environments designed to maximize attention and engagement. The forthcoming EU Digital Fairness Act provides an important opportunity to change that approach. The European Commission has identified manipulative interface design, addictive features and unfair personalization among the practices requiring further action, while recognizing the need for effective, horizontal consumer protection in the digital environment. CHI therefore calls for clear and consistent obligations for age-appropriate design across digital services and platforms accessible to children. Such safeguards should apply horizontally across the sector rather than depending upon action against individual companies after harm has occurred. Children should not be expected to possess the knowledge, maturity or self-control required to resist digital environments deliberately optimized to capture and retain attention. Nor should responsibility rest solely with parents and caregivers. The services children use must be designed with their rights, safety and wellbeing in mind from the outset. As policymakers develop the Digital Fairness Act, Europe has an opportunity to move from reacting to individual harmful practices towards establishing a common standard: If a digital service is accessible to children, protecting children must be part of its design. Helen Mason Executive Director The post Our tobacco moment? Protecting children online must be built by design – not pursued platform by platform appeared first on Child Helpline International.
In this article, decolonial scholarship inspires a discussion of globalization processes problematizing the concept of the ‘global child’. The antinomy global–local and the issue of the North–South divide are scrutinized, and child scholarship is evaluated from the point of view of a political economy of knowledge production. Finally, some key issues about what a Southern theory of childhood should look for based on a ‘politics of the local’ and its eventual interconnections with the global are discussed.
Nine years is a long time between meetings! The last time child helplines from across the Americas and the Caribbean sat in the same room together was in Costa Rica in 2017. But, from 22 to 24 September, 38 current and potential members and partners met once again, this time hosted by Red PaPaz and Línea 106 in Bogotá, Colombia. Our members have been meeting with each other since 2003, sometimes for International Consultations that involve the entire membership from all over the world, sometimes for Regional Consultations. Each time, the room and the context around us change – but the reason we meet does not: children and young people are reaching out for help every day, and the child helplines answering them are stronger when they learn from one another. The agenda for this meeting was built together with our members in the region. Here’s what stayed with us: What children and young people are telling us We opened the discussions with updates to our network’s dashboard of 2025 child helpline data. Mental health remains among the most common reasons for children and young people getting in touch with child helplines. Contacts about family relationships have risen steadily over the past six years, with an increase of around 20% in 2025 compared to 2020. Behind each of these figures is a child who picked up the phone, sent a message or started a chat. Reaching children before a crisis The mental health session was full of ideas worth borrowing. 2NDFLOOR Youth Helpline shared how they analyse their contact data for identifying early warning signs, such as a rise in suicide-related contacts, and sending outreach teams out to work on prevention. Línea 106 Bogotá runs prevention workshops with teachers and parents, and its data are informing public health policy in Bogotá. Our venue hosts Universidad El Bosque reminded us that friends are often the first to know when something is wrong, which is why trained youth leaders and peer support matter so much. Responding when emergencies strike Prevention matters, but child helplines also need to be ready when demand rises without warning. When an earthquake hit San José del Palmar in Colombia last month, demand on Colombian helplines rose sharply. They shared their experiences and best practices to navigate the emergency. Kids Help Phone also shared how it prepares for moments like this: queue thresholds trigger a dedicated surge team, because a contact left unanswered can cost a young person’s trust. Protecting children close to home Most violence children describe to child helplines happens close to home: in the family and at school. Together with the rise in contacts about family relationships, the conversations during the consultation reminded us that supporting children often means supporting the people around them. Línea 141 / ICBF presented its approach to building protective bonds with the whole family, moving from affection towards mutual care. Línea Familiar Contigo shared its good practices for receiving and responding to contacts initiated by family members. Keeping pace with online harm Online, risks are shifting fast, with AI as a major driver. To help child helplines train counsellors on identifying and responding to online harms, we presented our Training of Trainers Manual, developed under the Voice Up Online project. Building services that last “What got you here won’t get you there” set the tone for the session on sustaining services, led by Kids Help Phone with an intervention from Telefon pa Hubentud. The presentations on leadership, quality, engagement with young people and decision-making tools got participants talking about the opportunities to improve their current practices. Growing a stronger network In 17 countries in the Americas & Caribbean region, and several overseas territories, children and young people still have no national child helpline to call. Through Unheard Voices programme we are working with partners towards establishing or developing a child helpline in every country by 2030. We’re leaving Bogotá with new connections and fresh ideas for reaching that goal! Gracias, Bogotá! We are grateful to our hosts, Red PaPaz and Línea 106, for their warm welcome to Bogotá, and to our Regional Representatives, Leevun Solomon and Angelina Sosa Lovera, for their support in bringing the region together. Thank you to Universidad El Bosque and Atenea for hosting us, and to UNICEF Colombia, Crisis Text Line, GSMA, the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), the District Health Secretariat of Bogotá and the City of Bogotá for their support. Most of all, thank you to every member, speaker, moderator and rapporteur who contributed to the sessions. Every child and young person has a voice. They have the right to be heard. Laura Holliday Senior Manager – Programmes The post Child Helplines in the Americas & Caribbean Meet Once Again in Bogotá appeared first on Child Helpline International.
Within the contemporary US context, the construct of childhood innocence is a powerful social myth that structures children’s social relations and culture and informs their rights and status in society. In this article, I interrogate the construct of childhood innocence to examine how it operates as an exclusionary form of social practice. By examining the emotional investments and social tensions that have shaped concepts of childhood, which define who is entitled to innocence and what it means to “belong” with/in childhood, I reveal how the doctrine of innocence has operated to maintain White supremacy. I explore the implications of a construct of childhood that works against the agency and dignity of most children by perpetuating silence about social injustices to illustrate the need for a reconceptualization of childhood that acknowledges and prioritizes the human rights of all children.
Colombia is one of the countries where corporal punishment (CP) is not yet banned. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of CP in Colombia with respect to prevalence, severity and chronicity. We used the Spanish version of the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale to assess 853 parental reports on the use of CP against their children in the four major cities of the country: Barranquilla, Bogotá, Medellin and Cali. Analyses of variances and logistic regressions were performed. Socio‐demographic variables that are predictors of the use of CP are parental age, the number of children in the household and age of the children. The results indicated a high rate of prevalence (77%) but low levels of severity and chronicity, as reported by Colombian parents. Our findings suggest that CP is a normalised practice, which might be linked to direct or indirect exposure to the long‐lasting armed conflict (more than 50 years) that the country endured. Recommendations for social policies are presented, particularly the design and implementation of locally relevant interventions for the prevention of this practice. ‘This study aims to contribute to the understanding of CP [corporal punishment] in Colombia with respect to prevalence, severity and chronicity’ Key Practitioner Messages There is a high prevalence of CP in Colombia but low levels of severity and chronicity. Socio‐demographic variables such as parental age and the number of children in the household are predictors of the prevalence of CP but not of its chronicity or severity. The use of CP might be related to the armed conflict that the country endured for the last 50 years. It is important to address the prevention of CP to promote a peaceful society.
Ángela Trujillo, Martha Rocío González Bernal, Laura Fonseca et al.
