The Rights Hero – Serious Games for Human Rights Education and Integration of Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe

Abstract

Following the rise of migrant inflows in Europe since 2015, more than 210,000 unaccompanied children have arrived in Europe. This article argues that serious games can in principle fill the gap of human rights education that these children face and ultimately help them develop, but important issues and challenges need to be considered. The article follows the design and development of “The Rights Hero”, a prototype serious game for migrant children to help them learn and practise their rights, encouraging them to take transformative action that will lead them to integration. The game focuses on the “Rights Hero”, whose gender and race are unidentifiable and who is trying to build up two superpowers, “Resilience” and “Empowerment”, through responding appropriately to various challenges. These challenges are all too familiar to migrant children. Designed by an interdisciplinary team of human rights and game design experts, and in collaboration with the ngo Network for Children’s Rights, work on the prototype raised important discussions regarding the use of games for human rights education, the need for children to know their rights, and their understanding of integration. The article reflects on the extent to which serious games can be developed as a useful informal educational tool for the human rights education of displaced children.