There’s one person in the element-i network who has dedicated herself to this topic with particular depth – children’s safety and rights officer Franziska Pranghofer. She has been part of the company for some time now, starting out as an educator before serving as team leader in various element-i child care institutions. Now, she focuses entirely on child safety and has shown an exceptional level of commitment to this topic.
Her concern is not only to protect the well-being of the children, but also their right to play a role in decision-making. They need to have the opportunity to have a say in matters that concern them. This includes actively listening to them and trying to implement their ideas together. Also, children need to have the opportunity to mature and develop properly, something which is only possible if they are given the appropriate space to do so.
However, children need to be aware in the first place that they have rights and that these are neither divisible nor transferable. In this regard, the educational specialists play a role in informing the children, serving as their advocates and respecting their rights. For this purpose, Franziska Pranghofer visits the individual element-i child care institutions and advises the educational teams.
The topic has met with great interest throughout the company, which is why there are now participatory workshops at the annual element-i Conference, where non-educators can also learn about children’s rights and how they can be comprehensively respected. This gave rise to the first children’s rights demonstration, which will certainly be held once again in Karlsruhe on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.