19^th December 2009 – Today Save the Children, the China Juvenile Delinquency Research Society (CJDRS) and the China Youth Daily held a book launch for the new comic book, The Adventures of Todd. The launch also coincided with a forum in Beijing on “Youth legal education and the prevention of juvenile delinquency“.

The launch was attended by representatives from the National People’s Congress, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, CJDRS, Beijing Haidian District People's Court, East China University of Political Science and the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. The media presence included the China Youth Daily and Legal Daily.

The Adventures of Todd tells the story of a 14 year old middle school boy called Todd who runs away from home. Interspersed amongst Todd’s adventures are key elements from the Law on the Protection of Minors, describing how young people can use their knowledge of the law to approach risky or difficult situations and as a means to protect their rights.

The book was co-authored by Save the Children and the CJDRS and published by Law Press China. Targeting readers aged between 10 and 15, the book aims to introduce children to material from the Law in a fun and enjoyable way. The Adventures of Todd is the first comic book released in China tackling the Law on the Protection of Minors.

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors came into effect on 1 June 2007 to formally incorporate key principles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Chinese legislation, namely “children’s right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life”. The Law firmly establishes the protection of children in China with a strong focus on child rights. As the Law on the Protection of Minors has mainly been interpreted by adults, there was little analysis from a child’s point of view. This realization sparked the development of The Adventures of Todd as a means to help children to understand the Law, their rights and take an active role in upholding them.

Early 2008, Save the Children began working with the CJDRS to research how to incorporate information about the Law on the Protection of Minors into a book for children.

In February 2009, SC and CJDRC held an event called “The Law on the Protection of Minors：We’re in it together”. Child delegates from Xinjiang, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces came together to discuss their own experiences of child protection and to sit down with experts to work through parts of the Law which were difficult to interpret. Children’s comments and feedback collected at the session became the starting point for writing a child-friendly version of the Law. It is expected that The Adventures of Todd will be read by every primary school child in China.

“From inception to publication, The Adventures of Todd was created using the personal experiences of children and from the perspective of the child rights. The comic book will be a fun way for children to learn about the Law on the Protection of Minors” said SC Policy and Communications Director Li Ping. A child’s perspective on the law, although very different from an adult’s, is extremely valuable.

Part of the whole creation process was CJDRS Party Secretary Cao Xuecheng who believes that legal education should invigorate the theory and practice of the law and be brought within closer reach of children i.e. included in schooling and attracting interest from youth.

At the forum on “Youth legal education and the prevention of juvenile delinquency“, Shang Xiuyun, affectionately known as “Mama Judge”, emphasized the importance of legal education. She expressed how saddening it was that some children went down the wrong path because of their lack of understanding of the law. In a speech made by Associate Professor Yao Jianlong of the East China University of Political Science, Yao said that young people must be active in their understanding of the law. As children grow up, adults are responsible for giving them a sense of the law – and without this legal education won’t be able to prevent and control youth crime.

Experts at the forum agreed that legal education should be introduced at the right stage of a young person’s development using pop culture as a vehicle for promulgation. Strengthening research into pop culture using the internet, multi-media and comic books etc would allow the development of legal education, making it more contemporary. Changing the way legal education is communicated could bring about a change in attitudes of students and be a way to improve its effectiveness from the bottom up.