Projects

Creation of a video game: Detective on a mission for children’s rights

Project duration: 7 months

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the IBCR has embarked on an innovative project: the creation of a video game to raise awareness among girls and boys in Quebec and Canada about their universal and fundamental rights.

Indeed, despite some initiatives put in place to raise awareness of children's rights - such as the reference book "Know Children Rights" published a few years ago by the IBCR - there was still a gap between the tools created and the methods of learning and interaction likely to interest children and young people today. Neither the Convention nor its articles are really known by children and the public in general. However, knowing one's rights is a necessary condition for the full protection of the child.

While it is established that young people use new technologies early on and devote time and interest to them, no online tools were dedicated to children's rights in Quebec and Canada. To correct that and create an adequate tool, the IBCR partenered with 2 primary schools in Montréal and students from Polytechnique Montréal and ParisTech École Nationale des Arts et Métiers (France).

The objectives of the project: 

Through this project, the IBCR wanted to make girls and boys in Quebec and Canada aware of their rights so that they could exercise them fully, without discrimination and in all circumstances. Thus, the main objectives of the project are to:

• Create a serious learning video game, accessible, creative, fun and useful to awaken, raise awareness and equip children from 7 to 11 years old with their rights.
• Encourage children to exercise their role as citizens in society for real and lasting change
• Mobilise and meaningfully involve children in the process.
• Broadcast the game on different platforms (Internet, mobile) and promote it to Quebec school boards and child protection organisations for provincial, national and international distribution.

The impacts of the project:

This project carried out for and with children has various positive impacts:

• Children educated to their rights, conscious of a system that protects them and of services at their disposal to which they can turn, and children able to exercise their civil, political, social and cultural rights.
• A group of children trained to the world of new technologies and connectivity and an efficient collaboration between adults and children aimed at changing the perception of the child and his or her rights.
• An interactive and ludique tool accessible free of charge to children, families and schools.

The stages of the project:

Creation

After an initial contact with the two classes of students, several meetings were organised to allow children to discover the Convention on the Rights of the Child through recreational activities. These allowed to collect students' ideas on the fundamental rights to be promoted in the game (right to education, right to health care, right to participation...).

Students from Polytechnique Montréal then discussed different concepts with the pupils in order to create a prototype taking in considration their observations and reactions. The final version was then developed and tested by the children and finalised.

Diffusion

The game will first be broadcasted to school boards in Québec, as well as local comunity centres and child welfare organisations. It will come with a written document presenting the CRC and the game's instructions (click here to see this document). Ultimately, the IBCR aims to translate it into Spanish, Arabic and English in order to disseminate it worldwide through its partners.

To play: 

"Detective on a mission (...)" is an investigative game in which the main character, "Detective Pinpin", is confronted with situations that are unfair with regard to the rights of the child. Several actions are proposed to respond to the situation, the objective being to choose the one most likely to resolve the injustice. When the child chooses the best proposal in terms of his or her rights, he or she moves on to the next level and receives a golden trophy. Each of the five levels represents a situation specific to the daily lives of young people, such as sports training or the use of social networks.

Designed for children aged 7 to 11, the game is available free online at https://jeu.ibcr.org/ (optimized for Mozilla Firefox). The game is only available in French currently.

> click here to see a short presentation video of the game