Call to involve children in policy creation

The involvement of children in drawing up policies makes it more likely they will vote in elections when they get older, according to a report published yesterday.

The report says the involvement of children and young people in decision making improves the relevance and quality of policies as well as increasing children's sense of being valued.

Titled Young Voices: Guidelines on How to Involve Children and Young People in Your Work, the report was produced by the National Children's Office, the Children's Rights Alliance and the National Youth Council and is aimed at all agencies and organisations.

Launching the guidelines, Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan said he had seen the contribution children and young people could make to policy development and planning of services.

The guidelines would help agencies and organisations to develop "a culture of participation" for children, Mr Lenihan said.

Dónall Geoghegan, assistant director of the National Youth Council, said it was not always easy to involve young people in the right way.

"But to me there is no real choice. We either value youth and young people in the present tense, and make the effort, or we put our hands up and say that young people and children are less valuable and less equal," he said.

The report says matters affecting children go beyond traditional children's issues "and include housing, transport, environment and finance and equality issues".

It cautions against the "token" involvement of children, whereby children are consulted but the adults go ahead and make their own decisions regardless of children's views.

"Children should be involved in working groups and committees dealing with issues that affect them, unless compelling reasons exist for not involving them," the report states.

At the launch, Mary Bríd Sweeney (17) of Donegal Youth Council told how agreement had been reached to install a pedestrian crossing on a busy road outside Carndonagh Community School following the youth council's negotiations with the county council.