The unimagined power of children

His idea was unique. Groundbreaking. Or as the Financial Times put it: «One of the biggest platforms in 2034.» Zuckerberg could pack his bags. Meta was history. Because Mark had forgotten one thing: the children.

Even in the days of Instagram and Tiktok, it was difficult to give children access. In many countries, young people could only create a profile at the age of 16. Children's rights applied and the rules were strict. Ever since the metaverse came along - especially Zuckerberg's version - adults had been spending hours in the artificial worlds.

VR glasses were seen as fashion accessories, just like Sonos or Bang & Olufsen headphones used to be. More and more people were walking through the parks in haptic suits instead of jeans and shirts. And in-game purchases to polish up your avatar have long been part of everyday life.

Only the children were left out. The laws had become stricter. Participants often had to prove that they were 18 years old. Children's rights, the Global Digital Compact, specific data protection regulations, the risk of paedophilia - all this made it impossible to open the metaverse to children. But children meant revenue. Walt Disney already knew that.

That's when he had the brilliant idea - his niece, to be precise. At a family reunion, she had mentioned in an aside that there should be a metaverse for children. Exclusively for children.

There were karaoke bars for children. A cupcake land. Pizza towers. Simply everything.

He immediately realised that there was enormous potential behind this simple idea. He had a nose for it. His eyes began to sparkle as he did the maths after the party. There were around 2.4 billion children and young people worldwide, and millions of parents who would make everything possible for their little ones. He could already guess the profit.

A virtual world just for children

Before seven o'clock on Monday morning, he organised a meeting and presented the vision to his management team. The ball started rolling immediately. His legal department had examined it and found it possible. His investors thought it was bold, but considerable. His staff thought it was viable.

The software developers, extended reality experts, UX designers, creators, art directors and research assistants in his team had done a great job. After just three months, «Children's World» was born.

It consisted of a candy paradise, a field full of bouncy castles, children's concerts in all languages, adventure playgrounds and - something he particularly enjoyed - a ball pool as big as a triple gymnasium. Countless children's avatars were created. They also created Taylor Swift. Well, they didn't have the rights yet, but as soon as the singer smelled the shotgun, she would say yes. He was sure of that. She was not only a musician, but also a businesswoman.

There was a pool where you could swim like a mermaid, a beauty parlour, half pipes, pump tracks and perfect surfing waves for sports freaks. There were countless karaoke bars for children. A cupcake land. Pizza towers. There was simply everything.

Parents paid a lot of money for VR goggles, a suit and access to the game. But who wouldn't want to give their offspring access to this world?

No opportunities for paedophiles

And it was safe. To enter «Children's World», your ID or passport had to be scanned, including a live facial scan. The AI was able to compare the ID document with the face and check the age. Potential paedophiles had no chance of gaining access. Everything was checked. Children's World was perfect.

Sure, parents paid a lot of money for VR goggles, the suit and access to the game. But who didn't want to make this world possible for their offspring? A world in which anything was possible.

He was right. Christmas sales were a sensation. People all over the world bought «Childern's World». At times, the glasses were even sold out. Metaverses for adults were a success. Metaverses for children were an absolute goldmine. There were in-game purchases, merchandise products and his marketing staff were constantly coming up with new ideas. He became a billionaire almost overnight. The number of registrations skyrocketed. He was on course for success. He was dubbed «Founder of the Year». Even Zhang Yiming congratulated him.

Of course, he had expected that there would also be criticism. Concerned parents, sceptical teachers. He had suspected that there would be cases of bullying, cybergrooming and sexual assault. After all, children were only human. He had installed «help buttons», information boxes, avatars as child police officers. Everything was there. Every incident, every assault was documented and reported to the relevant departments. But it remained surprisingly quiet.

Global children's strike

Initially, individual local newspapers in Germany, Spain and the USA reported on children playing «Children's World» and rebelling against their parents. But that was manageable. And anyway - who didn't do that during puberty? Perfectly normal. Still, you had to be careful. He used his communication on it. But the messages disappeared again. The product was bought. Cracked the 50 million mark.

But then came 20 November 2035, one year after the release. He would never forget that day. The day everything collapsed. First a report from Bavaria. Then Bologna. Zurich. London. Later the USA, Latin America.

The children came from all directions and stormed the main squares of the big cities. They travelled on buses, trains and bicycles. The schools remained closed. Teachers stood in empty classrooms. Playgrounds and sports facilities were deserted. The children went on strike. They gathered together, conspired. Homemade signs were held in the air. Slogans were shouted. All over the world. The same slogans.

Children demand the right to co-determination

«We have rights! We want to have a say! We are many!"
«We have rights! We want to have a say! We are many!»
«¡Tenemos derechos! ¡Queremos opinar! ¡Somos muchos!»
"我們有權利！我們想有發言權！我們很多!»

The demands: no parliament without the representation of children. No spatial development without the co-determination of children. No schools without a parliament of children. Co-determination at home. Co-determination in clubs. Co-determination in public life. Co-determination.

Politics was in a state of emergency. Teachers were overwhelmed. The parents were desperate.

Initially the local politicians tried to negotiate, later the national politicians. Violence was threatened. But none of the countries wanted to use water cannons, tear gas or truncheons against the children. The children remained in the squares. Ate from their sweet boxes, played music, remained seated. Persevered.

Politics was in a state of emergency. Teachers were overwhelmed. The parents were desperate. Some adults wanted to join the children, but were not tolerated. «This is our war with you,» shouted the children and young people.

What has happened?

«Children's World» fell into disrepute. Praised to the skies the day before, it was now blamed for the children's behaviour. At first, he was defensive. What could his game do if the children rebelled? But the accusations continued.

So he rounded up his programmers, marched into the developer room, had all access controls deactivated, put on his VR goggles and suit and entered his created world. He saw the slides, the popcorn machines, his ball pool. He had to resist the temptation to jump in. Everything invited him to play and was beautiful. Only - there wasn't a single child. The police avatars stood uselessly in a corner.

«What happened?» he wanted to know from them. «The children were playing at first, then they started talking. First a few, then more and more,» the Avatar explained in a monotone voice. «And what about?» He almost shouted.

Turning point on the bouncy castle

«About the fact that the world is created by adults. Every war, every famine. The climate crisis. Nowhere are they asked, nowhere are they involved. And they have started to organise. But all peacefully. That's why there was no reason for us to report.» The Avatar shrugged his shoulders. He would have liked to strangle him. «Where did they meet?» «On the field with the bouncy castles.»

He left the police officers behind and walked through his world. He had visited it so often during the development period that he would have found the field with the bouncy castles blindfolded. The field was huge, but there were no more bouncy castles. Just a big mountain of plastic and a sign that said «#zerowaste». He sat down on the pile of plastic and couldn't understand the world anymore.

Then he felt someone nudge him. He looked around, but there was no one else on the field. Only then did he realise that it was someone from the real world. He took his VR goggles off his head and looked around. «Boss. You've just received a call. It seems to be important.» His chief developer handed him his smartphone.

«Hello, Uncle.» His niece's warm voice.
«Claire. What do you want? All hell's breaking loose here!»
«I just wanted to say thank you.»
«For what?» he asked, irritated.
«For listening to me and creating the metaverse.» She seemed completely calm, while he was so upset that he almost tore the VR suit off his body.

The game becomes reality

«Otherwise it would have been impossible for me to give us a voice."
«How?»
«You brought us all together in your metaverse. Created a place just for us.»
He realised. He had calculated everything. He had only forgotten one thing: the children. "We won't stop demonstrating,» she said. «We're determined to do anything.»

His game disappeared from the market before Christmas. «Children's World» was history. And yet it was more of a reality than ever before: since then, there was no longer a country that didn't let its children have a say. The real world became Children's World - albeit without the ball pit.