Action dayDiscover good online offers on the day of children's websites

Children's websites are diverse: there are videos that explain the German parliamentary elections or climate change in a child-friendly way, as well as stories to make children laugh or recipes for colorful birthday cakes. For all their diversity, good children's websites have one thing in common: an appreciative tone that takes children seriously. Children's websites are also places where children learn about democracy. They provide children with neutral information so that they can form their own opinions. They offer children the opportunity to help shape content and discuss it with other children. Here, children practise arguing objectively and respecting other opinions.

However, the children's website landscape in Germany has been complaining about underfunding for years. We have already reported on the problem in this article, among others. The German Children's Fund (DKHW) is therefore also making an appeal directly to the German government on this Children's Website Day. According to the DKHW, financial support for good, non-commercial children's websites urgently needs to be expanded in view of the rapid development in the field of AI. This is the only way to ensure that they continue to function as central places for digital education and participation. Media literacy promotion must start early and reach all children. This also includes making AI understandable and classifying it critically. Furthermore, it is important that children's perspectives are incorporated more strongly into the development of digital services and rules. The DKHW refers to the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This guarantees children both the right to participation and access to media.