Children’s rights commissioner warns against using children as political props

Nicosia, Cyprus. Children’s rights commissioner Elena Pericleous on Monday warned against using children as political props after MEP Fidias Panayiotou published a video of children calling on the public to attend a protest against high energy prices he has organised for next week.

Concerns raised with Panayiotou

Pericleous said she had already sent Panayiotou a letter expressing her “strong concern regarding the manner in which the participation of children was ensured in this particular public intervention”.

She said a public response was also necessary because the issue extended beyond this case to the broader question of how adults understand and ensure children’s meaningful participation in public life.

Panayiotou posted the video on social media on Sunday. In it, he said a group of nine children who were playing football “want to tell you something”.

Informed and voluntary participation

“Children’s participation is a right and cannot be turned into a means to serve the purpose or aspirations of adults,” Pericleous said.

She said that whenever children take part in public interventions or social mobilisations, adults must ensure they have been properly informed beforehand, understand the issue on which they are being asked to take a position, participate freely and express their own opinions rather than a message shaped by adults.

Pericleous stressed that “children have a voice, and that voice belongs to them”. She said they have the right to be informed, question, seek explanations, form opinions, demand changes, care about events around them and have a view on the society in which they are growing up.

Warning against manipulation

Pericleous drew a distinction between children’s participation and their use as tools by adults.

“Using children as a means to reinforce a political position or a public demonstration does not constitute participation, and when the influence an adult can exert is used to direct a child’s opinion or choice, then it may fall within the scope of manipulation,” she said.

She added that children must not become a means of achieving goals set by others, nor should their voices be used to amplify those of adults.