By Moa Jamir
A child-friendly media often could be associated with laws, protocols, and editorial checklists, but the heart of every conversation on child-friendly media lies a simple truth: sometimes silence protects. In an age where every smartphone owner is a potential publisher, the responsibility on the media has never been greater. Accordingly, the November 15 workshop on “Building a Child-Friendly Media,” organised by the Nagaland State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NSCPCR) with the Dimapur Press Club, was a reminder that safeguarding children is not only a legal obligation but a moral one.
The discussions unequivocally that children are not headlines; they are lives. The legal framework is clear. Several Supreme Court rulings affirm that protecting a child’s identity such as name, address, photograph, even indirect clues, is non-negotiable. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012; the Juvenile Justice Act; the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and various provisions in the Indian Constitution are all geared towards safeguarding children from harm. Even in death, a child’s dignity remains a constitutional right.
As Special Public Prosecutor Imlimongla stressed during the workshop, “words heal and words wound.” The difference between the two lies in restraint. Careless disclosure can cause irreversible harm, particularly in close-knit societies like Nagaland, where a child’s school, colony or even loosely framed description can reveal their identity. Well-meaning groups, churches and student bodies often share sensitive information without realising its consequences. Once a detail enters the digital world, it takes on a life of its own.
This is why a child-friendly media must act as a stabilising force. It must know when to withhold information, place protection above virality, and treat a child’s identity as sacrosanct. The question raised at a similar workshop in Kohima earlier this year remains relevant: are media priorities aligned with child rights, or with sensationalism? In today’s rush for immediacy, ethical reflexes can easily be overridden by the impulse for clicks. Yet the moral maturity of a newsroom is revealed not by how quickly it reports a story, but by how carefully it protects those who appear in it.
Even language matters. For instance, terms such as “juvenile criminal” stigmatise while “child in conflict with the law,” acknowledges that children are still capable of change, growth and rehabilitation. For newsrooms, safeguards must be standard practice including clear reporting policies, regular training on child-protection laws, a designated child-rights focal person, legal vetting of sensitive content, and the avoidance of harmful language. Displaying child-helpline numbers and avoiding sensational visuals are not bureaucratic requirements but ethical necessities.
But child protection is not limited to reportage alone. The broader ecosystem includes all spaces where children may be vulnerable from entertainment to labour; from trafficking to unsafe digital environments and so on. Protection, therefore, is not only about how stories are told but about building systems that keep children safe wherever they are.
This is where statutory bodies such as the NSCPCR, Child Welfare Committees, District Child Protection Units, the police, Childline and allied agencies play indispensable roles. Beyond regulation, their work includes awareness-building, sensitisation, monitoring, and issuing guidelines that safeguard children across sectors. When these agencies collaborate closely with the media, the result is a stronger and safer environment for every child.
Ultimately, silence, when it protects a child, is not censorship; it is conscience. A newsroom can hold institutions accountable without placing a child under public scrutiny. A child involved in a case today should not carry a digital scar into adulthood, and a child-friendly media must strive to minimise harm and uphold dignity at every step. By choosing restraint over spectacle, and empathy over exposure, the media become not just observers of society but guardians of its most vulnerable. That is the media children deserve.
For any feedback, drop a line to jamir.moa@gmail.com
