Bullying, Poverty, and Bieber Top of Mind for Kiwi Kids

Bullying, Poverty, and Bieber Top of Mind for Kiwi Kids

Bullying, poverty, and natural disasters are among the issues that concern New Zealand children, and Justin Bieber is slightly ahead of Barack Obama in terms of grabbing an invite to their birthday party.

They are among the findings of a global Unicef survey to commemorate World Children’s Day on November 20th. Children (aged 9-18) were asked about issues important to them, and how they see their standing within society.

Among the other results: nine in ten kiwi children believe the world would be a better place if world leaders listened to children. Unfortunately, six in ten children also believe world leaders don’t listen to them.

“If our young people are telling us that they don’t feel listened to, then we need to start listening” says Vivien Maidaborn, Unicef NZ’s Executive Director.

“World Children’s day is a chance for us to acknowledge the role that young people play in our lives. Wouldn’t it be amazing if young people didn’t have to feel concerned for their safety and wellbeing? That’s the sort of New Zealand I think we all want.”

The survey was carried out in 14 countries across the world among more than 11,000 children between 9 and 18 years old. The findings across all 14 countries reveal children feel very concerned about global issues affecting their peers and them personally, including violence, terrorism, conflict/wars, unfair treatment of refugees and migrants, and poverty.

Key findings:

• 93% of New Zealand children worry a lot or sometimes about Bullying, 89% about Poverty and 86% about Violence against children

• When it comes to worries which could personally affect them, kiwi children are concerned about Natural disasters (69%), Mistreatment/Bullying (62%) and Threats to nature (53%).

• The issues they want world leaders to take primarily action on are tackling Poverty 25% then Conflicts & wars together with Violence against children (11%) followed by Terrorism and Bullying (10%).

• Less than half of NZ children (39%) trust adults and world leaders to make good decisions for children.

• 60% feel their opinion is not heard at all, or does not help make change. They feel their opinion is most appreciated by Family and Friends (93% and 91%), and Teachers (75%). They feel their opinion is least appreciated by Government (24%) and World Leaders (18%)

• Of the top personalities children would invite to their birthday, most are international singers, with the exception of Barack Obama.

• More than half the children use laptops and smartphones (56% and 53% respectively) at least weekly

• New Zealand children use social media (73%) and watch TV (87%) extensively. They browse internet for news and listen to the radio (57% and 60%). Other traditional media is used to a lesser extent; (37% read magazines and 29% read newspapers)

ENDS

Notes

UNICEF worked with global research leader Kantar and its data insights agency Lightspeed to poll more than 11,000 children aged between 9 and 18 years old in 14 countries about their concerns and attitudes on global issues. The countries surveyed were: Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US.

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