Violence against children is firmly entrenched in family and school life across the world, according to Janice Richardson, Senior Advisor at Janice Richardson attends the Childhood is the most precious of moments in the life of a human being. It is during childhood that the mind and body are shaped, language and culture are assimilated, and values and attitudes ingrained. Children are the future of our planet, and the impact of violence on our future is far more devastating yet far less frequently evoked as an issue of concern than global warming, for example, or endangered species.Violence is preventable, yet the United Nations in-depth study conducted in 2006 confirms that it exists “in every country of the world, cutting across culture, class, education, income and ethnic origin. In every region, in contradiction to human rights obligations and children’s developmental needs, violence against children is socially approved, and is frequently legal and State-authorized.” Although most of us take it for granted that children need to have their rights protected, it wasn’t until 1989 that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) became the first legally binding international convention to affirm human rights for all children. Article 19 of the charter states that all children have the right to be safe from “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”. Other articles of the UNCRC protect a child’s rights to education (28) and to relax and play (31).“Spare the rod and spoil the child”Nevertheless, children’s right to grow up in a world free from violence is flouted across the world every day. The English adage “spare the rod and spoil the child” has its equivalent in many cultures, and is so firmly entrenched that many don’t even see corporal punishment as violence. One of the major difficulties in combatting the pandemic of violence is that it is firmly entrenched in family and school life. Bullying, sadly one of the common manifestations of violence between peers, is often considered “just part of growing up” by adults who somehow seem to rapidly forget the pain of similar incidents in their own lives. Violence in the school and at home are perpetuated by culture and tradition, and can take many different forms, from verbal to mental and from physical to sexual. Research shows that millions of children live in fear of physical, emotional and sexual violence. How can children who live under such a shadow develop their full potential as active citizens in today’s challenging world?  Statistics generally show that approximately one child in three suffers through bullying at some time in their lives. Interestingly, Cyberbullying  Over the past few decades, awareness seems to have been creeping into society about the deep impact of violence and the importance of providing our children a violence-free environment where they can play and learn, and have their voice heard. To some extent this increased awareness coincides with the rise of internet and mobile technology. Certainly, technology has raised new challenges, turning bullying, for example, into the even more toxic cyberbullying. Technology can, through its power of dissemination and the inherent difficulties of curation, bring children face-to-face with violence in many new ways such as through harmful content and images and by following a child into the sanctuary of his or her home around the clock with taunting comments. On the other hand, it has succeeded in shining the spotlight in some of the darkest corners of life, and empowered like-minded social advocates to strengthen their fight against violence, bullying and other social ills.  Lessons learned from the pioneers Several names stand out for their work in this space in recent years. One of the pioneers in protecting children against all forms of violence including bullying is Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission and author of a UNESCO publication entitled The model proposed by Delors promoted social inclusion by acknowledging the value of diversity, and fostered mutual respect and the right for every child to have his or her voice heard. This child-centred approach has progressively given rise to youth-led initiatives such as peer supporter schemes in which certain young people, often called school ambassadors, work with school staff to tackle bullying in and out of school.The peer supporter model Schools that have adopted the peer supporter model generally agree that not only does it encourage supportive behaviour between peers, it also results in an improved social climate within the classroom and the whole school. The recent EU-funded Children involved in ENABLE felt much more confident about reporting incidents to peers because they know they could find equitable solutions without reaping the scorn of other children because of “telling tales” to the teacher. Reports from boys, always more reticent that girls about reporting, almost doubled. The UK charity organization, the Princess Diana Award, has developed a structured well-grounded model for setting up peer support in schools, and currently works in this way with more than 40,000 children per year from age 5 upwards. Schools are a reflection of the community, and if we can turn around the approach to violence and develop greater acceptance of diversity in schools, we are one step closer to providing for our children a more tolerant, less violent society. As the Minister of Bhutan stated in Seoul at a UNESCO Symposium on violence and bullying in January 2017: “The way human beings are bullying each other and bullying nature has at its source a troubled society. Our options are to have a happy society or a violent society, for these we will have a happy school or a violent school.” There is a role for each of us to playA much more recent initiative that tackles violence in society as one of its 17 goals is the United Nations Sustainable Development (But most of all it is up to each of us to be a role model in our behaviour towards others. Violence begets violence, and bullying is generally considered to be learned behaviour. As Benjamin Franklin once said: “Children are great imitators, so why don’t we give them something great to imitate!”*   *   * Janice RichardsonJanice RichardsonJanice is also author of books and publications for children and adults, public speaker and project innovator. Creator of Safer Internet Day (in 2003), now celebrated annually by more than 50 million people in over 100 countries worldwide, she helped set up and coordinated the European Safer Internet network for a decade, until December 2014. In 2014-2016 she co-founded and led the EC-funded ENABLE initiative (European Network Against Bullying in Learning and Leisure Environments), striving to develop the social and emotional literacy of 11-14 year olds to eliminate bullying. She is currently consultant at Telefono Azzurro (Italy) and European Schoolnet (Belgium), a member of Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board, works as an expert for UNICEF, and is conducting missions for the Council of Europe in the MENA region. Her overriding goal: promote the wellbeing of children and young people in today’s blurred on- and offline environments.