Children

Kosovo Roma children and their right to education during times of emerging crisis represent the black swan of COVID-19 and distance learning. There is a disparity between the theory and the practice of the Kosovar government to provide equal learning opportunities to Roma children.

In the context of migration, especially irregular and forced, the risk of children being exposed to the abuse of child labour is high. Migration itself contains all the elements that are otherwise defined as risks of children being exposed to this type of abuse: poverty, irregular school attendance, parental unemployment, etc.

Bullying through electronic means, specifically mobile phones or the internet, has emerged and is often collectively labelled cyberbullying. With youth using digital technologies for educational and recreational purposes, there has been an increase in social problems in the cyberspace, exposing them to different forms of cyber violence.

Children are tracked and monitored in their daily lives and are also targeted on the basis of their location. This is a form of real-world behavioural targeting. How marketing to children in the digital era works and what impact may it have on their rights?

In Croatia corporal punishment is regulated and prohibited by law, but some gaps do exist and, due to other factors, such negative practice persists. A review of the legal framework is needed along with measures to prevent this practice and protect children from such a form of abuse.

Corporal punishment against children entails multiple violations of children's rights, and its negative effects on children’s well-being need to be addressed. Simultaneously, alternative methods of parenting, such as positive disciplining, should be put in practice more.

Welcome to our fourth Curated series, which addresses some of the key issues affecting children’s rights in South East Europe (SEE). The series marks a collaboration with the Children’s Rights Department at the Global Campus Headquarters in Venice working together with motivated and dynamic Children’s Rights Regional Officers under the Global Campus and Right Livelihood cooperation with the aim of enhancing children's rights globally.

International bodies have warned that the world is a more difficult place for young people as a result of COVID-19. Three years on, children and young people are still suffering from mental health consequences. To prepare for future pandemics, a human rights approach and a new medical perspective on adolescent mental health should be provided.

In South Africa, the shifting from physical to virtual education due to COVID-19 has created inequalities among learners from urban areas who could continue with online schooling and learners from rural areas and also learners with disabilities who were deprived of their right to education.

It is time to step out of the yoke of the official narrative of Kosovo’s patriotic identity, to ignore it and offer in response other narratives, unofficial stories by ordinary people, narrations from the margins of the community affected by the war. Ultimately, non-monumental stories that belong to everyday life.