From Voice to Action: Upholding Children’s Right to Participation in Shaping Policies and Laws for Digital Safety and Well-Being

While the digital environment offers new opportunities to realise children’s rights, their right to participation remains insufficiently reflected in digital policy frameworks. This study analyses the right of the child to be heard in the academic literature and in the existing international legal and EU regulatory frameworks. It explores how children’s participation right is incorporated into EU and national digital policies and examines how genuine engagement can strengthen children’s digital resilience and support their well-being. By applying the 7C model of coping skills and analysing its interaction with the right to participation, the study highlights how these elements mutually reinforce the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through a qualitative analysis of key strategic documents and the relevant policy literature, the research identifies the tension between the formal acknowledgment of children’s right to participate and its practical implementation at law- and policy-making levels within the digital context. Although the European Union’s examined strategies emphasise children’s participation, their practical implementation often remains abstract and fragmented at the state level. While the new BIK+ strategy shows a stronger formal emphasis on child participation, this positive development in policy language has not yet translated into a substantive change in children’s influence at the state level. This nuance highlights that despite a positive trend in policy rhetoric, the essential dimension of genuine influence remains underdeveloped.