Swiss Child Protection Campaign with a Retro-Game Look

The Child Protection Switzerland Campaign Launches Its Third Phase

Gaming platforms, social media, WhatsApp, school research: Children and teens are online every day—and often on their own. Online, they also encounter dangers that remain invisible to adults. This is precisely where the Kinderschutz Schweiz campaign comes in, which, in collaboration with Neu Creative Agency, is entering its third and final phase.

According to the 2024 JAMES study, more than a quarter of all adolescents in Switzerland have been asked to send erotic pictures of themselves. Since its launch in 2022, the reporting and counseling center clickandstop.ch has also received more than 10,000 reports of URLs containing child sexual abuse material. But how can adults protect children if they can’t always be there with them?

A pixelated retro world as the campaign theme

At the heart of the campaign is a film styled after the computer and video games of the ’80s and ’90s. In this pixelated retro world, a childlike character navigates the digital world alone, dodging various dangers. It is only at the end that adult caregivers appear, to whom the child can turn. The message: We can’t always be there when children are online. But we can be there for them, listen to them, and show genuine interest.

The retro look is designed to appeal to today’s parents, who may have played such games themselves back then, and is a recurring theme throughout the rest of the campaign materials. On social media and digital out-of-home platforms, the campaign shares specific safety strategies: having open conversations, agreeing on clear rules for using digital media, and being mindful when sharing images and personal information. If something does happen, however, Kinderschutz Schweiz advises staying calm, listening, and reporting incidents immediately to clickandstop.ch and the police.

The message has broad support

The third and final phase of «Together Against Cyber Sex Crimes Against Children and Adolescents» is being launched in collaboration with the national «Youth and Media» platform of the Federal Social Insurance Office, the Swiss Crime Prevention Association, cantonal and municipal police forces, the Federal Office of Police, and the Network for Digital Investigation Support in Cybercrime. The campaign is supported by Sunrise, AXA, Livesystems, ZipScreen, and the Guido Fluri Foundation, among others.

The campaign is aimed at parents, caregivers, and the general public.

For more information about the reporting and counseling center, visit https://www.clickandstop.ch.

Responsible at Child Protection Switzerland: Matea Petrovic, Tamara Parham Responsible at Neu Creative Agency: Nicole Vizcardo, Pian Gumpp, Sandy Pfuhl, Adrian Staehelin, Andrea Braschler, Bettina Beyeler, Jonathan Stucki, Fadi Nemr, Nico Ammann, Simon Rehsche