YES, WE CAN…AND WE MUST! CHANGING THE NARRATIVE OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS PROTECTION IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT THROUGH A CHILD-CENTERED APPROACH. THE LESSON FROM THE U.K. CHILDREN’S CODE

Abstract

In the face of empirical data confirming that children and young people spend a great deal of time online, today's reality delivers an equally alarming result: the Internet was not conceived and designed with the idea that users could also be minors. This represents a serious shortcoming that could, however, be remedied where a genuinely child-centered approach is chosen, that is, an approach based on the founding principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): the best interests, the evolving capacities and the right to be heard. Together with the essential contribution and role played by family, institutions and stakeholders, the narrative on the protection of children online could take on a different and more appropriate direction, focusing on the fundamental dimension of the promotion of children’s rights and their agency. The UK Children's Code represents, in this regard, a concrete model to look at with extreme interest. Its circulation, influence and success – with different nuances - proves, in fact, that one of the key elements in this topic is represented by the empowerment – both of the single minor and of the collectivity – in order to maintain and preserve what makes and builds our identity: human dignity.