The Ethical Considerations Of Children And Young People

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Over recent years there has been an increasing approval in Britain and elsewhere that children and young people should be involved more in decision making which may affect them. Recent years have seen an increase on the focus of children 's rights which include ways of getting young people and children involved more directly in decision making that impact their lives. In research terms, this has been mirrored in a linguistic shift from talking about 'research on ' to research with ' and now, increasingly, to 'research by ' children and young people (Kimmel, A.J., 1988).

In this essay I will critically discuss the ethical considerations which are to be taken into consideration when children and young people are involved in research as…show more content…
The participation of Children and Young People (CYP) in research is placed within the framework of an international rights-based framework within which CYP were granted a right to have a say. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that all CYP who are competent of forming their own views, have a right to articulate those views freely in all subjects affecting them.

According to Robert Holmes (2006), the ‘power dynamics between adults and children’ present an important obstacle to the collection of high quality evidence from children. Of course, engagement with children and young people is not always at an individual level. There are a variety of issues to think about when engaging with young children. Children and young people may be shy around unfamiliar adults, even at times even afraid, so it is important to find ways of making them feel safe and secure. Explanations for adults having power over children and young people are willingly established in materialistic and paternalistic declarations of looking out for the young children’s best interests, which is to protect them from harm. Most people including young children are in agreement with the involvement of adults is necessary there are however some critics who question this. Roberts, H. (2008) points out that power dynamics in children’s participation are much messier than is often explicated, and that power isn’t something that children
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