By Karin:
When we discuss decoloniality and correcting abuses of power, where do children fit in? While children should be protected from having to make major decisions that adults must make, children’s opinions and lived experiences should inform public policy to a greater extent according to international law.
Interviewing children: The background in children’s rights
Children may be considered colonial subjects within each society with regards to how little say they have over their own lives and how cruelly they are often treated. In a 2022 essay called UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 2 and Discrimination on the Basis of Childhood that, the authors mention that, despite the fact that children possess recognized rights, there is often little awareness of the fact that children as a group face discrimination in ways similar to that of other vulnerable and minority groups (Daly, Thorburn Stern & Leviner, p. 419). Neuroscientific discoveries of recent years have revealed that children’s brains are not like adults’ brains and need an encouraging environment to develop optimally. Following the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by most countries in the world in 1989, processes for speaking with children, documenting their viewpoints and incorporating their lived experiences and needs into public policy were developed.
Interviewing children: Special legislation for interviewing children
Children lack the opportunities adults have to participate in society and share what their lives are like. It is the adults who must go out of their way to collect children’s stories and opinions. In General Comment no. 12 of 2009, the CRC Committee recommends that ‘State parties take action to build opportunities for children to express their views and for those views to be given due weight’ (Committee CRC, 2009, no. 106). Interviewing children is not entirely like interviewing adults. Decisions by adults that involve children must involve an analysis of at least one of the four fundamental rights of the CRC. These legal aspects are discussed in detail in essay Incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in National Law (Hoffman & Thorburn Stern, p. 148). Interviewers must act in the best interest of the child in each unique situation (UN CRC, 2013) and learn how to interview children (Vasquez, 2000).
Interviewing children: The selection
In article Rethinking Procedures, the authors discuss the difference between selecting a sample for active interviewing and sampling for standard survey research (Gubrium & Holstein, 2011, p. 75). Interviewing children is similar to active interviewing: The interviewer is looking for common themes among the children (as in a survey) while also aiming to hear about individual experiences (as in active interviewing). The purpose of this blog post is to illustrate how to interview children and to encourage adults to listen to children, more so than to present a relevant survey result or share specific interviewee stories.
Interviewing children: Contact and Consent
Making children’s participation available (in schools and elsewhere) is mandatory according to the CRC. In Sweden, the CRC guidelines were incorporated into a new national law in 2020. Child participation is voluntary and care is taken to create a safe environment (Children’s Ombudsman Sweden, 2022, p. 17). I work in a French children’s rights organization and decided to contact the parents of children in a French school near me through a parent-school association, explaining my project and proposing to interview two children. I chose the age of nine because at that age the children already have a few years of experience in the school. The parents of the first children who volunteered signed a consent form. There must be minimum two adults present when interviewing children (in this case, a parent). Children must be protected from emotional or other harm but this should not make us afraid to talk with children: children should be protected IN participation, not FROM participation as discussed in Children’s rights’ to participation and protection in international development and humanitarian interventions: nurturing a dialogue (Collins Tara M; Grover Sonja, Ruiz-Casares Monica, Tisdall, 2017, p. 3).
Interviewing children: The methodology
Active interviewing demands a higher level of engagement and interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee than asking questions in a standard survey. Interviewing children in line with the CRC recommendations takes a semi-structured approach: the same initial questions are asked to all children while follow-up questions may bring each interview in a new direction depending on the answers. This allows for a later identification of common themes, to direct public policy recommendation that improve children’s daily lives, while also leaving an open space for individual experiences to be heard. Questions should be open-ended.
Interviewing children: Building rapport when interviewing
I wanted to the interviews to take place in a safe setting in which the children felt at ease and didn’t worry other people would be watching or listening (aside from the parent). One took place over a Zoom call from my home to the child’s and the other one in-person in the child’s home over a ‘goûter’ ‘afternoon snack) – to compare the two experiences. Some small talk took place in the two cases, to make the environment warmer and friendlier, before getting into the questions. I also explained again to the children their right to give their opinion on their daily life in school and the purpose of the interview.
Interviewing children: The questions
The questions must be adapted to the age and perceived maturity of the child being interviewed, which requires active listening and being sensitive to children’s individual needs. I formulated three simple and open questions:
- Can you name and describe a situation in which you felt understood and well-treated at school and explain why?
- Can you name and describe a situation in which you felt misunderstood and unjustly treated at school and explain why?
- What would you change in school to make your life better?
Interviewing children: The recording of the interviews
Data was collected through consented audio and video recording that included meta-data logs with the place, date and time. The Zoom recording was around eight minutes long and the face-to-face interview audio recording around 11 minutes. I chose to use a photo of school-age children smiling in this article. The photo is not of the (anonymous) children I interviewed, rather its purpose is to be an inspiring reminder of children’s right to a good life.
Interviewing children: Zoom vs face-to-face interviews
The relationship with the child that I interviewed via Zoom seemed slightly less relaxed than the one in the face-to-face interview. Although a difference in personality may partly explain this, I suspect the computer screen did add some distance and, also, did not allow us to share a ‘goûter’. Face-to-face interviews with children, over some snacks, is standard procedure for Swedish authorities (Socialstyrelsen, 2020, p 15). In some countries, children have of course had to get used to certain school classes and other meetings taking place over Zoom during and since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In article Am I not Answering your questions properly? Clarification, adequacy and responsiveness in semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews, the authors point out that telephone interviews lack in visual cues, making it more difficult to assess whether the interviewee still seems engaged (Drew, Irvine & Sainsbury, 2012, p. 91). With today’s Zoom calls, the interviewer does have access to some visual cues but less so than in person.
The interviewer and the interviewee construct meaning together, as discussed in Constructing Meaning Within the Interview (Gubrium & Holstein, 2011, p. 58). Interviewees may need follow-up questions to share things they initially may not have thought of. Children may benefit from even more help with this: authorities that interview children (like the Swedish authority on social services Socialstyrelsen), often ask if they may schedule a second follow-up interview a few days later, to allow the child to bring up thoughts they may have had since the first interview (Socialstyrelsen, 2020, p. 13).
Interviewing children: Analysis of common themes in my interviews
The main experience of injustice in their school brought up by both children was related to the school food: being forced to eat food they did not like and having poor quality food served to them. I was relieved that they did not mention bullying, for example, although this is no guarantee they have not experienced it. The quality of the food we eat every day is, of course, no small matter either. Also, being forced to eat has been linked to developing eating disorders (Abdulkadir, 2009, p. 117).
Interviewing children: Taking it further
Had the interviewees in my project been more numerous, this would likely have allowed for the two following policy recommendations: 1) Improve the quality of the school food. 2) Modify school policy to not force children to eat. As a rule, some months after the conversations, the interviewers should inform the interviewed children of the resulting policy changes, or lack thereof (Children’s Ombudsman Sweden, 1993). Please comment below what you would have liked adults to ask you when you were a child!
References
Abdulkadir, Mohamed; Bryant-Waugh, Rachel; Bulik, Cynthia M; De Stavola, Bianca; Herle, Moritz; Hübel, Christophe; Loos, Ruth F.J; Micali, Nadia and Santos Ferreira, Diana (2019) ‘A longitudinal study of eating behaviours in childhood and later eating disorder behaviours and diagnoses’ in The British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 216, Issue. 2, pp. 113-119, Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/longitudinal-study-of-eating-behaviours-in-childhood-and-later-eating-disorder-behaviours-and-diagnoses/5365B9ECD4A7549F49C6A7F517F83A66
Center on the Developing Child (2007) The Science of Early Childhood Development (InBrief), Harvard University: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/
Children’s Ombudsman Sweden (August 15, 2022), Sweden’s sixth and seventh periodic report, p. 17: https://www.barnombudsmannen.se/globalassets/dokument/barnkonventionen/fns-barnrattskommitte/2022/supplementary_report_sweden_final_2208015.pdf
Children’s Ombudsman Sweden (1993): The Ombudsman for Children Act: https://www.barnombudsmannen.se/english/the-ombudsman-for-children-act/
Child Rights Connect, The Four General Principles: https://chrds.childrightsconnect.org/the-rights-of-child-human-rights-defenders/interactive-chrd-implementation-guide/the-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-and-the-declaration-on-human-rights-defenders-rights-relevant-to-chrds/four-general-principles/
Collins, Tara M; Grover, Sonja; Ruiz-Casares, Monica; Tisdall, E. Kay M. (2017) ‘Children’s rights’ to participation and protection in international development and humanitarian interventions: nurturing a dialogue’ in The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 1-13: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2016.1262520#abstract
Committee on the Rights of the Child (2009) The Right of the child to be heard, General Comment no. 12: https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsqIkirKQZLK2M58RF%2F5F0vHKTUsoHNPBW0noZpSp5d6MSKiT09ePYFY4cH5tmyyvg%2FzVvi%2BJDuaCgf7NB%2BqHeFDlerQVMa5D11979EtHr%2BnA
Daly, Aoife; Thorburn Stern, Rebecca and Leviner, Pernilla (2022) ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 2 and Discrimination on the Basis of Childhood’ in Nordic Journal of International Law, pp. 419-433, Brill Nijhoff.
Drew, Paul; Irvine, Anne & Sainsbury, Roy (2012) ‘Am I not Answering your questions properly? Clarification, adequacy and responsiveness in semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews’ in Qualitative Research, 13(1), pp. 87-106, Sage.
Gubrium, Jaber F. and Holstein, James A. (2011) ‘Constructing Meaning Within the Interview’ in The Active Interview, pp. 52-65, Sage Publications Inc.
Gubrium, Jaber F. and Holstein, James A. (2011) ‘Rethinking Procedures’ in The Active Interview, pp. 73-80, Sage Publications Inc.
Hoffman, Simon and Thorburn Stern, Rebecca (2020) ‘Incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in National Law’ in The International Journal of Children’s Rights, pp. 133-156, Brill Nijhoff.
Socialstyrelsen (2020) Barns medverkan I Socialstyrelsens arbeten: https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/globalassets/sharepoint-dokument/artikelkatalog/ovrigt/2020-6-6858.pdf
United Nations (UN) (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General Assembly Resolution 44/25: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
United Nations CRC (2013) General comment No. 14 on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1), pp. 17-40: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/gc/crc_c_gc_14_eng.pdf
Vasquez, Rosemary, L.C. S.W. (2000) Interviewing Children: Excerpts from an article for Court Appointed Special Advocates to help professional evaluators interview children: https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/Rosemary-Vasquez-Interviewing-Children-excerpts-from-an-article-%28April2000%29.pdf
