Safety from violence is an important topic for children, and the European Union wants to help improve the protection of children. So, we asked children and teenagers about what would help them to feel safer.
Their input is reflected in a set of EU recommendations to help adults work better together to protect children.
Who did we speak to?
1,095 children between the ages of 7-17 from 21 European Union countries.
What did children say?
- Who should help children?
- 63% prefer to talk to someone in person (rather than going online)
74% would first go to family or relatives and 68% to friends
- What children need in different places
- At school: better hygiene and putting a stop to bullying
- At home: enough money to live on. When home is not safe, they need a safe space to go
- After school: more places and activities to meet socially, with adult support
- In public places: safer playgrounds and parks and more street lighting
Online: More information and training for adults and children
- The adults who can help
- Dedicated and understanding teachers.
- Additional school staff (counsellors, social workers, deputies, principals…)
- A caregiver who has time to look after their physical and emotional needs
- Good foster parents (when parents cannot keep their children safe)
- Friends to help children to find help and feel safe
- Health professionals who are friendly and explain the treatments
- Police if they are familiar and known by the children
Illustrated summary of what children said (all EU languages)
I think teachers should listen to us more carefully because even though they think we are very young, we have our opinion and they should not ignore it.
What do children want from adults?
- To listen more and better
- For adults to respect them, listen and take them seriously
- Adults should try harder to understand children’s needs
- To involve them in decisions at home, school, with their communities and governments
Adults should include children in developing solutions to their problems
- To provide more information
- To know about potential risks and dangers
- Information and guidance on who to ask for help and support and how to report unsafe situations
Clear information on what happens after they ask for help
- To provide more help
- Clear rules, boundaries and measures to prevent harm from happening
- Quick action when they realise children are not safe
- To get help before a problem gets worse, and access to specialised support
To have a single trusted adult for support through a problem
- To work well together
- Adults should share information and communicate with each other to help create a protective environment
Adults should be trained all together to understand how to address children’s problems
- To protect mental health
- An open and safe environment to discuss mental health issues
- More awareness raising, guidance and information to deal with mental health issues
I would put awareness on mental health, stress, and teach about it in school. Help people come up with solutions, make events. Bring awareness to after school activities, like out of school life. Bring some physical activities in school.
Commission's recommendations
Children's ideas and needs helped the EU write recommendations on how adults across Europe can work better together on child safety.
- Read about the recommendations (in all languages)
- Download the full report of what children said (in English)
- What adults said about improving child safety (in English)