Molly Shivnan and Sam Jones have good parents, school teachers and other adult role models to guide them through what's right and wrong. support them, love them, and encourage them.

But what about those children who don't? What about the children who are abused, neglected or have no-one to look up to?

Molly Shivnan and Sam Jones are speaking at a Buddy Day breakfast this morning. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

The head boy and girl at Mount Maunganui Intermediate School will share their perspective on why an adult's role is so important in a child's life, as part of Buddy Day 2015 today.

The 13-year-olds will share their thoughts during a Buddy Day breakfast at Harcourts this morning.

'Sam and I will be talking about what we've learned about Buddy Day and the hierarchy of needs and the rights of a child,” says Molly.

Run by child advocacy agency Child Matters, Buddy Day aims to raise awareness, start conversations, and drive change about the role every adult plays in children's lives – from preventing child abuse to providing great environments for children to flourish.

Through Buddy Day ‘carers', buddies will ask people all day: What one thing will you do better for children today, this week or this year?

'I will think what it's like to be in someone else's shoes,” says Molly. 'If some people don't have food or water at home, I'll help them and support them.”

As part of Buddy Day, school and pre-school children from 100 schools have given cardboard cut-outs clothes, faces, hair, accessories and a ‘personality'.

The ‘buddies' are then adopted by adults, who use the cardboard cut-outs as tools to generate conversations about children's wellbeing.

Molly's cardboard cut-out is a netballer called Poppy. 'My partner and I both really enjoy playing netball, so we decided to make a netballer.”

Buddy Day breakfasts will be held in Tauranga, Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington and Ohakune today, when sponsors, dignitaries, Child Matters and child advocates get together to share the messages of Buddy Day and celebrate people who have registered to adopt ‘buddies'.

For the first time this year, students have been asked to speak at the breakfast events.

Buddy Day participation is free and adults can register as buddy ‘carers' at: www.buddyday.org.nz