24/08/2026
We cannot teach children consent while teaching them obedience at all costs.
That was one of the most powerful messages from Emma’s opening keynote at today.
Emma spoke about the lessons children absorb through everyday interactions with adults. When a child learns that an adult has the final say about their body, their feelings or their basic needs, we may be teaching something far more consequential than obedience. We may be teaching them that adult authority overrides their own voice.
For me, this goes to the heart of child rights and effective child safeguarding.
We tell children:
“Your body belongs to you.”
“You can say no.”
“Tell someone if an adult makes you feel unsafe.”
But those messages are weakened if, in everyday life, we also teach:
“Don’t talk back.”
“Do what you’re told.”
“Adults know best.”
“Because I said so.”
Children cannot be expected to exercise their voice and agency if adults routinely override them.
Safeguarding must therefore be more than policies, procedures, training and responding well when harm is disclosed.
It must be preventative. It must be child-centred.
A child-centred approach to safeguarding means paying attention to how children experience the adults, systems and environments around them. It means children experience, not simply hear, that their voice matters, their boundaries matter, their feelings matter and their body belongs to them.
The strongest safeguarding is not only how we respond to harm, but what we do every day to prevent it.
Prevention ChildSafety ChildCentred ChildParticipation
