Children's participation report published

Date: 14th March 2013
Category: Respect for the views of the child

A new report, Children and Young People's Views on Participation and Principles for Practice, is available from the Commissioner's website.

The report presents key findings from workshops undertaken with children and young people last year. The workshops aimed to explore, from the young people's perspective, the key elements that make good quality, successful, participative experiences - as well as identifying the possible barriers.

The report summarises what adults could think about to make sure children and young people participate in decision making in a meaningful way. It also highlights what positive experiences of participation can look like.

The participation of children and young people in the Commissioner's work is crucial to the delivery of his duties and responsibilities. He believes opportunities to participate in making decisions can and should take place at all levels of a child's life, and the report reflects his aim to explore what children and young people understand 'participation' to mean.

It complements Dr Gregory Mannion's report Children and Young People's Participation in Scotland: Frameworks, standards and principles for practice, published last autumn.