With the support of the Jean Monnet Programme of the European Union
INVITATION FOR ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE QUALITY OF
CHILDHOOD IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
hosted by
MEP Rovana Plumb
MEP Corina Cretu,
MEP Evelyn Regner
MEP Karin Kadenbach
MEP Lívia Járóka
MEP Gerald Häfner
MEP Edward McMillan-Scott
This session will be hosted by MEP Evelyn Regner
(S&D, Austria)
Working Group on the Quality of Childhood at the European Parliament
Thirty- third session:
What Contribution can the Digital Environment make to the Improvement
of the Quality of Childhood in Europe?
followed by the launch of the book
'Improving the Quality of Childhood 2012'
Key-note speakers: Professor Martine Delfos from the Netherlands (Professor on Virtual
Development of Youth) and Thibaut Kleiner from the Cabinet of Euro-Commissioner
Neelie Kroes
Time: March 6, from 13.00 until 15.30 hours followed by a drink
Location: European Parliament, Rue Wiertzstraat 60, Brussels, Room A8F388
Entrance: we will gather at the Entrance at Place Luxembourg at 12.30 hours and enter
together into the building and go to the meeting room.
Badge: if you need a badge, please mail to michiel.matthes@scarlet.be or phone 02.7622557
The main theme of the Working Group since its inception in 2006 has firstly been to deepen
our understanding about the quality of childhood in all its domains, and secondly about how
to bring about improvements in this respect.
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Until a few decades ago the living environment of children and youngsters took place in three
spheres:
 the environment at home
 the environment of daycare and the school
 the environment of the world outside
But since the introduction of television, and later computers, mobile phones and the internet
an entire new life sphere came into existence, namely the virtual environment.
Therefore we depict today the Whole System of the Child as follows:
A Diagram depicting the Whole System of the Child
Age Category Home
Environment
Daycare and
School
Environment
Work
Environment
Free time
Environment
Virtual
Environment
22 and older
19-21 years
old
16-18 years
old
13-15 years
old
7-12 years
old
4-6 years old
0-3 years old
Pregnancy
Before
pregnancy
What happens in each compartment in the diagram above has an impact on the situation in
other compartments, and with that on the entire system of the child.
With this diagram we illustrate that the Virtual Environment of the Child is an integral part of
the Whole System of the Child.
In the session of 6 March we will focus on:
What Contribution can the Virtual Environment make to the Improvement of the Quality of
Childhood?
To undertake this exercise in a systematic way we use as a framework for this session the
analytical model, which is called the 'SWOT Analysis'. SWOT stands for the Strengths and
Weaknesses of a particular organisation, which operates in a market, that offers to this
organisation Opportunities and Threats.
In our case we assume that the child and his family are 'the organisation', and that the Virtual
Environment is 'the market' with Opportunities and Threats. With this model we can
intellectually separate the child and his family from the Virtual Environment and explore the
interaction between the two sets of variables.
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The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Child in relation to the Virtual Environment
The Strengths
 The digital literacy of the parents and the child
 Growing up in a child centred parenting environment with adequate education by the
parents
 To be in a family that has a good policy regarding the purchase and the use of digital
equipment
 To have sufficient resources
 Having strong social and emotional skills and good bonds with the family
 To be part of a good extended family with grandparents and uncles and aunts etc
The Weaknesses
 The unawareness of parents and children of the threats of the virtual environment
 Lack of digital literacy of the parents and the children
 Digital Equipment is used to keep the children quiet.
 Insufficient education and supervision of the children
 Lack of structure in family life
 Not having digital equipment
 Being poor
 Having weak social and emotional skills and lack of bonds with the family
Virtual Environment of the Child
Opportunities
 The Virtual Environment can support all sorts of positive relationships of the child
with family members, friends, grandparents, other members of clubs he/she
participates in, school etc.
 There is rich and uplifting content in the Virtual Environment and many constructive
contacts with known and also unknown people can be established and/or maintained.
 The Virtual Environment expands the child's knowledge and perspective on the world
and facilitates the learning of foreign languages and contact with other cultures.
 The Virtual Environment facilitates the contact with other people nearby or far away.
 The Virtual Environment stimulates the technical skills of the children.
Threats
 Decrease of the real life contact, which is predominant for genuine contact.
 Contact with less non-verbal information like eye contact
 Vulnerability to age-inappropriate content, such as violence, drugs, and sex, but also
about the perspective on the world.
 The speed of knowledge proliferation is too quick to process, certainly for children
who lack basic frameworks yet.
 Health threats, certainly with respect to gaming.
 Threat of addiction even in young adolescents.
 Threat of school drop out, especially boys.
 Vulnerability to become a victim of crime, such as pedophilia and human trafficking
 Vulnerability to become into contact with marginalized individuals, such as school
shooters
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 Vulnerability to negative effects of excessive amount of screen hours (see Sigman,
2012) on cognitive development such as slow language acquisition; social
development such as less social interaction and empathy; self-regulation such as overexcitedness, poor concentration, and sleeping problems; and unhealthy life style such
as more sedentary lifestyle, poor eating habits, and obesity
The SWOT Analysis used to identify Strategies for Children in relation to the Virtual
Environment
Virtual Environment in relation to the Child
Weaknesses
The Strengths
and Weaknesses
of the Child and
his/her Family
Strengths
Threats
This is the most vulnerable
situation for children. Other
stakeholders such as the
school should help the child
to make him/her aware of the
threats in the Virtual
Environment. Furthermore
parents could be helped to
strengthen their digital
literacy.
The authorities can play a
role with age limits and filters
etc. (art.17 Rights of the
Child)
In this situation the child has
a good point of departure, but
is confronted with a number
of threats in the Virtual
Environment. The parents
and the school should play an
active role to protect the child
/ make the child resilient visà-vis the threats in the Virtual
Environment. School
education should develop a
way how to teach children to
know what search machines
can be trusted and when.
How to process information
with respect to speed and
content.
Opportunities
In this situation the child's
point of departure depends on
the activity of other
stakeholders such as the
school which can help the
child to benefit in an optimal
way from the Virtual
Environment. Furthermore
parents could be helped to
strengthen their digital
literacy.
In this situation the child is in
the best position to benefit
from the Virtual Environment
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Overall objectives of these meetings:
 To gain a better understanding of the Quality of Childhood in the EU member states.
This time we will focus on ' What Contribution can the Digital Environment make to
the Improvement of the Quality of Childhood?
 To think about the role that the European Parliament and European Institutions could
play to improve the situation among children.
 To get to grips with the principles and approaches that could lead to improvements for
children’s well-being.
 To form an effective working group and to develop an awareness of how to move on.
We take pleasure in inviting you for the 33rd session on 6 March 2012. We believe that we as
members of the European Parliament working together with like-minded public interest
advocacy groups and committed individuals can and should play an important role in this
area.
Yours sincerely,
Rovana Plumb
Corina Cretu
Evelyn Regner
Karin Kadenbach
Lívia Járóka
Gerald Häfner
Edward McMillan-Scott
Members of the European Parliament
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Programme Outline for 6 March 2012
Time
13.00
13.05
14.25
14.40
15.00-15.05
Subject
Opening
What Contribution can the Digital
Environment make to the
Improvement of the Quality of
Childhood?
What Contribution can the Digital
Environment make to the
Improvement of the Quality of
Childhood: The European
Commission's Building Blocks for a
Better Internet for Children
Discussion
Break
Speaker / facilitator
MEP Evelyn Regner
Professor Martine Delfos
Thibaut Kleiner, Member of the
Cabinet of Euro Commissioner
Neelie Kroes
MEP Evelyn Regner
Launch of the Book 'Improving the Quality of Childhood in Europe 2012'
15.05
15.15
Today's Childhood
A Message from the Bernard van
Leer Foundation
15.25
15.30
The QoC book is part of a process
The Working Group on the Quality
of Childhood, the viewpoint of a
MEP
Reception
15.35 - 16.00
Christopher Clouder
Lisa Jordan, Executive Director
of the Bernard van Leer
Foundation (TBC)
Michiel Matthes
MEP Evelyn Regner
Disclaimer:
The organiser organises this session on a best effort basis. However changes in parts of the
programme or in the entire programme may occur due to unforeseen circumstances and the
organiser cannot be held liable for that.
Secretariat for this session:
Michiel Matthes
Tel: +32.2.762 2557
E-mail: michiel.matthes@scarlet.be
Internet: www.allianceforchildhood.eu
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This programme was developed in cooperation with the Alliance for Childhood European
Network Group, whose members are:
ARGE-Erziehungsberatung, Austria
The Linkedness Project, Belgium
Experiential Education Project, Belgium
Flemish Institute for Family Sciences, Belgium
Saharan & North African Toy and Play Cultures,
Belgium
Denmark
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Dr. Martina Leibovici
Heidi Defever
Professor Dr. Ferre Laevers
Professor Dr. Hans van
Crombrugge
Dr. Jean-Pierre Rossie
Claes Solborg Pedersen
Professor, Emerita Dr. Lea
Pulkkinen
Le Furet, France
Marie-Nicole Rubio
Verein mit Kindern Wachsen, Germany
Lienhard Valentin
Sabine Heggemann
European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants
(EFCNI)
Silke Mader
Legambiente, Italy
Vanessa Pallucchi
Stichting Universele Opvoeding (NL)
Marijke Sluijter
Janusz Korczak International Society
Theo Cappon
Center for Youth and Development, The Hague
University for Professional Education, The Hague
Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg (NL)
Professor Dr. René Diekstra
Fundación Botín, Spain
Fátima Sánchez Santiago
International Association for Steiner / Waldorf
Early Childhood Education (Sweden)
Clara Aerts
Family Lab International, Switzerland
Jesper Juul
European Council for Steiner
Waldorf Education, Brussels
Christopher Clouder
Universal Education Foundation, Brussels
Daniel Kropf
The Educational Volunteers Foundation
of Turkey
Nurdan Sahin
Mother Child Education Foundation, Turkey
Batuhan Aydagül
Secretariat of the Group, Brussels
Michiel Matthes
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This programme is organised with the support of the following organisations:
The sessions held by the Working Group on the Quality of Childhood at the European
Parliament in the period 2006-2012:
1. ‘The Toxic Childhood Syndrome and the Quality of Childhood’ with
Christopher Clouder (UK) and Professor Hans van Crombrugge (Belgium).
Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
9 January
2. ‘Really Improving the Education in the European Union requires Systemic
2007
Changes’ with professor Luc Stevens (Netherlands) and Professor Ferre
Laevers (Belgium). Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
6 March
3. ‘The Quality of Child-Adult Relationships in Families and School’ with
2007
Jesper Juul (Denmark). Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
15 May 2007 4. ‘The Child: his/her Networks and Neighbourhood’ with René Diekstra.
Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
September 20 5. ‘How can we improve in the European Union the Early Childhood
2007
Educational Systems’ with John Bennett, the author of the OECD Study
Starting Strong. Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
November 6 6. ‘How to let children and adolescents acquire key competences for the
2007
world of the 21st century? with Dr. Martina Leibovici-Mühlberger from
Austria and Geseke Lundgren from Sweden. Host: MEP Karin Resetarits
January 8,
7. ‘Attachment, what it is, why it is important and what we can do about it to
2008
help young children acquire a secure attachment? with Sir Richard Bowlby.
Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
March 4,
8. ‘A vision on children and childhood in the European Union’ by Michiel
2008
Matthes. Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
May 14,
9. Professor René Diekstra about ‘The Changing Face of Adolescence.
2008
Accounting for changes in adolescent development and their effects on
education and social policies’. Host: MEP Karin Resetarits.
July 1, 2008
10. Professor Steen Hildebrandt (University of Aarhus, Denmark) about the
5 December
2006
9
September
16, 2008
November
12, 2008
November
17, 2008
January 27,
2009
March 3,
2009
April 28,
2009
September 8,
2009
November
17, 2009
December 8,
2009
January 12,
2010
March 2,
2010
April 13,
2010
June 8, 2010
‘Multiple intelligences in the knowledge-based society’. Host: MEP Rovana
Plumb.
11. Presentation of the report of the Fundación Marcelino Botín entitled
‘Social and Emotional Education, An International Analysis’ by Mr
Christopher Clouder and Fátima Sánchez Santiago. Host: MEP Karin
Resetarits.
12. Professor Boris Cyrulnik from France: what measures can we take to
improve the quality of childhood in the European Union? Host: MEP Rovana
Plumb.
13. Organisation of a Symposium in Bucharest, Romania at the request of
MEP Mrs Rovana Plumb: ‘A European Policy Agenda for the Quality of
Childhood with special emphasis on the case of the children of Romanian
migrant workers’.
14. Professor Michel Vandenbroeck (University of Ghent, Belgium) about
Diversity and Equity in Early Childhood Services. Host: MEP Karin
Resetarits.
15. ‘Taking stock of what has been achieved with the Working Group since
December 2006 and looking forward’ with Michiel Matthes, SecretaryGeneral of the Alliance for Childhood European Network. Host: MEP Karin
Resetarits.
16. Professor Peter Moss (University of London) about young children and
their services: developing a European approach. Host: MEP Rovana Plumb.
17. Continuing to work on improving the Quality of Childhood in the
European Union during the present economic downturn with Professor
Emeritus Richard Wilkinson, co-author of the book ‘The Spirit Level, Why
More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better’. Host: MEP Rovana Plumb.
18. The Technical University of Dortmund won the tender issued by the
European Commission to execute a Research Project to identify the key
research questions regarding families and family policies. The leader of this
project, Professor Dr. Uwe Uhlendorff gave a briefing on this Project and
spoke about ‘Developing a European Research Agenda for Families and
Family Policies’. Host: MEP Lívia Járóka.
19. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain, and the policy
requirements in this respect with Sue Gerhardt, author of the book with the
similar title. Host: MEP Evelyn Regner.
20. The PISA Study and lessons learned regarding the Quality of Childhood
with Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the
OECD Directorate for Education. Host: MEP Evelyn Regner.
21. ‘Improving the Quality of Childhood in the European Union: the Case of
Roma Children' with Ivan Ivanov, Executive Director of the European Roma
Information Office (ERIO) and Bernard Rorke, Director of the Roma
Initiative Programs of the Open Society Institute (OSI). Host: MEP Gerald
Häfner.
22. Improving the Quality of Childhood in the European Union: the Aspect of
Parental Leave Policies by Professor Peter Moss of the Thomas Coram
Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. Host: MEP
Gerald Häfner.
23. ‘The City for the Children’. Key-note speaker: Vanessa Pallucchi,
Director for Education of Legambiente, Rome, Italy. Host: MEP Vittorio
Prodi and MEP Karin Kadenbach.
10
August 31,
2010
November
17, 2010
January 11,
2011
March 1,
2011
March 29,
2011
May 31,
2011
September 6,
2011
November 8,
2011
January 10,
2012
March 6,
2012
24. 'The impact of television and screen media on the Quality of Childhood
and what are good policies in this respect on the level of the family, on the
level of the country and on the EU level?' with Dr. Aric Sigman, author of the
book 'Remotely controlled, how television is damaging our lives'. Host: MEP
Karin Kadenbach.
25. ‘The proposed research agenda for the European Commission re families
and family policies' with Professor Dr. Uwe Uhlendorff of the Technical
University Dortmund, Germany. Host: MEP Mr Gerald Häfner
26. 'The Quality of the Physical Environment of the Child, the Current
Problems in this area, and what needs to be done?' together with the Health
and Environment Alliance and the INCHES Network. Host: MEP Gerald
Häfner.
27. 'Educating the Art of Life: Resilience and Creativity in Contemporary
Education' with David Brierley, Associate Professor at the Rudolf Steiner
University College, Oslo Norway. Host: MEP Evelyn Regner.
28. 'A reflection on the European Commission's High Level Group on
Literacy' with emeritus Professor Margaret Clark from the UK. Host: MEP
Lambert van Nistelrooij.
29. 'Learning to move and moving to learn. Why physical development in the
early years supports later learning, behaviour and achievement' with Sally
Goddard Blythe, Director of The Institute for Neuro-Physiological
Psychology in the UK. Hosted by MEP Edward McMillan-Scott.
30. Presentation of the report 'Learning for Well-being: a Policy Priority for
Children and Youth in Europe, A Movement for Change' by Professor Ilona
Kickbusch, Director of the Global Health Programme at the Graduate
Institute of International Development Studies in Geneva. Host: MEP Karin
Kadenbach.
31. Alcohol Nation, How to protect our children from today's drinking
culture' with Dr. Aric Sigman. Host: MEP Gerald Häfner.
32. Presentation of a Proposal to set up a European Academy for
Complementary Pedagogy by Jesper Juul. Host: MEP Judith Merkies.
33. ' What Contribution can the Digital Environment make to the
Improvement of the Quality of Childhood? with Professor Martine Delfos
from the Netherlands and Thibaut Kleiner of the Cabinet of Eurocommissioner Neelie Kroes. Host: MEP Evelyn Regner.
Three books were published with the reports of these sessions:
 session 1-16: Improving the Quality of Childhood in the European Union: Current
Perspectives. Volume 1
 session 17-23: Improving the Quality of Childhood in Europe 2011, Volume 2.
 session 18-30: Improving the Quality of Childhood in Europe 2012, Volume 3.
They can be ordered for €10 each, excluding postage, from Patrice Sullivan
Patrice@ecswe.org or Chiara Carones ecswe2@gmail.com.