Children’s Rights &/in Popular Culture (panel/roundtable for NEPCA conference taking place virtually Oct 9-11 2025) 

How are children’s rights represented in current popular culture (e.g., videogames, board games, graphic novels, film, TV, social media, music, toys etc.)? In what ways does pop culture today curtail children’s rights (e.g., cellphone apps, tracking devices, surveillance equipment)? How do children themselves define their rights, notions of justice, law and order in their interactions with popular culture (e.g., toys, games, art, fashion, hobbies, social media etc.)?

This panel aims to explores the intersections of children’s rights and popular culture as broadly as possible. While the 1989 UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the most widely ratified international convention in the world, this panel invites legal definitions of “children’s rights” in terms of regional (African, Asian, North American), national, state or indigenous law; from the perspective of adult’s parents, schools, religious or humanitarian organizations; drawing on post-colonial, decolonial, cross-cultural, queer, feminist and/or any combination of interdisciplinary frameworks, and most importantly from point of view and experiences of children and youth themselves.

Possible topics might include:

• Representations of children’s rights in picture books, games, toys, music videos, Netflix, Disney rights-based programming etc.
• UNCRC in Popular Discourse: Awareness or Appropriation? Edutainment or exploitation?
• Neo-imperialism or … potential for resistance?
• Concepts from UNCRC in popular culture (e.g., “best interests of the child”; “nondiscrimination,” “right to development,” “right to be heard,” “right to participate” etc)
• Cross-Cultural and/or Indigenous Approaches to Children’s Rights or Child Agency
• Depictions of children’s activism or child activists
• Children & environmental rights in popular culture
• Children’s “right to play,” rest, leisure (Article 31) in popular culture
• Child labour, child slavery, child trafficking or violence against children in popular culture
• Other Children’s rights in pop culture: right to (sex) education, access to health etc.
• The Rights of Child Influencers or Child Stars
• Children’s rights in the digital age (right to privacy, right to technology, surveillance apps, facial recognition etc)
• Newly emerging children’s rights (e.g, digital rights, DNA rights, AI such nanny-robots etc.)
• Intersectionality & Inclusivity in Pop Culture; Representations of Race, Gender, Disability
• Youth Queer, Neurodivergent, Religious, Racio-Ethnic Communities in/& Pop Culture
• Indigenous Youth Media Projects or Creative Work by Refugee, Incarcerated, Marginalized Youth etc.
• Decolonizing Pop Culture, eg. Youth-Led Media from Global South and Indigenous Communities
• Participatory Culture & Youth Media (e.g, fan communities and child agency, Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram and the politics of visibility for young creators etc.)

If interested in participating, please send 200 word abstract to Dr. Madelaine Hron mhron@wlu.ca by July 13th. If there is a lot of interest the panel might be converted to a roundtable. (If you have a strong preference of format, please kindly indicate it along with your submission)