'The Worst Children’s Library' Brings Dark Corners of the Internet To Life

DDB Group Aotearoa, Samsung, Safe Surfer, and Auckland Intermediate School have joined forces to create a world-first, visual representation of online harm: ‘The Worst Children’s Library’.

This integrated campaign, which pooled creative talent across the DDB Aotearoa Group -- Track + Tribal, Mango, and DDB -- brought to life the scale of harmful content kids encounter online.

'The Worst Children’s Library’ saw Auckland Normal Intermediate School’s library shelves stripped of regular, innocent material and replaced with books representing harmful digital content children are exposed to. Every book was something a child has seen or experienced online, according to data. The bespoke data set was created from multiple global sources, including court and police documentation, academic studies, governmental and organisational research and news reports.

Showcasing over 1000 books catalogued in a ‘Dewey Decimal System of Harm’, topics ranged from toxic masculinity and hate speech, to self-harm and animal cruelty. The confronting titles included; ‘100 Ways To Self-Harm’, ‘Cruel Ways To Kill Animals’, and ‘1,2,3, Count Calories With Me’.

Matty Burton, DDB Aotearoa’s group chief creative officer, said the visual and emotional reaction produced by ‘The Worst Children’s Library’ is a “powerful tool” when it comes to educating parents on what their children are encountering online.

“Parents will never know about the worst stuff that their kids have seen online," Matty said.

"Because their kids will never tell them. So we needed to come up with a way to demonstrate the scale of harmful content that children have seen.

“Bringing it into a familiar school setting really hammered home the warning to parents everywhere. It really exposes how shocking the content really is.”

The R18 library was open to the public over the weekend of April 5th and April 6th. Every session was booked to full capacity with parents, teachers and government ministers able to witness the eye-opening reality of the online world for children, and access tools and resources to help protect kids from digital harm.

Shannon Watts from Samsung said it was important to create a way to empower parents to take control of children’s online safety.

“In partnership with Safe Surfer we are proud to have been able to help bring the ‘The Worst Children’s Library’ to life and provide a tangible demonstration to educate parents on the real threats they need to protect their children from," Sharon said.

"In today’s world, staying connected with our kids is essential, and mobile phones have become almost a necessity. However, it’s crucial for parents to understand the risks of unlimited internet access -- especially when children may not fully grasp the context of the content they’re exposed to."

The Worst Children’s Library’ was launched by DDB Group Aotearoa as an initiative for Safe Surfer and Samsung New Zealand.

Safe Surfer is an innovative platform that uses smart technology and filtering to protect kids from harmful content, and last year, it partnered with Samsung to launch the Kid-Safe Smartphone -- a world-first phone with customisable, in-built safety features and filtering designed to safeguard young users from online harms while keeping them connected.