Chapter 10:
The voice of children and young people in our Church: Safeguarding guidance
Aim of the chapter
- To describe good practices for engaging with children/young people
- To describe good practices for engaging with parents
- To describe how we should support our junior leaders
Engaging with children/young people
Principles
In our schools, children participate on school councils and committees. Often, they have a role in hiring new teachers and contributing to the resource distribution. They can implement new strategies, for example, around making the school more environmentally friendly, and they can develop peer supports to enhance anti-bullying policies and influence the school’s ethos.
At church, we can too often just simply tell children what to do, often unconsciously.
We want our children to develop personally into adulthood; but also, we want them to mature in their personal relationship with Christ.
In seeking ways in which children can meaningfully participate – most commonly in worship, but also in other aspects of church life (the church’s wider ministry, and even in some decision-making) – we actually create a stronger safeguarding environment.
Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) establishes a child’s right to be listened to and taken seriously when decisions are made affecting them.
This is reinforced by national legislation and guidance such as the ethos behind the Children (NI) Order 1995 or the Children First Act 2015.
Why?
Actively listening to children and young people engaged in our ministries is critical to safeguarding in our local congregations.
Children and young people will only really talk when they know they are being listened to and taken seriously, regardless of the subject matter.
If we are listening in the ‘small things’ then children will feel more confident to tell us the ‘big things’.
We need an environment in which if children are at harm in any way, they can speak up sooner rather than later.
We understand that this will be easier if children are thriving in an environment in which they are being taken seriously all of the time, not just if there is a problem.
Children need to know to whom they can speak.
We need to find the way to give children a meaningful voice in our Church, so they can tell us how we might not only develop their connection to their Lord Jesus, but if we have a problem that we need to know about.
Ladder of participation
A simple guide to whether we are actively listening to our children was developed.
- At the lowest level, children are nominal, or manipulated, or used as a token; although they may be present, their presence actually serves to maintain the status quo.
- In the middle level, children have important parts to play, and are informed of them, or they are consulted and then informed of the results of the decision.
- At the top level, children and adults share power, and children’s ideas and voices are considered as important as those of adults. For this to happen, there must be ways to include children in decision-making.
It is as we work up the ladder that we will see children become more engaged and empowered and it is in this space that we will have our strongest safeguarding cultures.
‘Listening to and capturing the voice of the child is central to effective safeguarding practice. It’s how we understand children’s lived experiences, hear their views about their lives and circumstances, and take effective action to support or safeguard them.’ (NSPCC, 2024)
What?
In our local congregations and ministries children need to be able to:
- Be able to speak up
- Be able to be heard loud and clear
- Be a real part of the local church family
- Be connected to the wider church family
- Be part of a safer church
Good practice: Questions for consideration
- Have you considered all the ways in which children can communicate? It’s not always verbal (mood, actions, drawings etc.)
- Have you considered children who are non-verbal and how they can communicate and have their voice heard?
- Have you got to know the child’s family? Can you take cues from them as to how best to engage with their child?
- Pastoral visitation is not just for mum and dad – have Elders, Ministers and pastoral care teams engaged also with the children/prayed with the children?
- Have you given children the opportunity to make a difference in your local congregation? Do they feel like they are making an impact? Or do they feel invisible and disappointed?
- Have you thought about the actual experience of children today, or are we pushing upon them what it was like for us to be children, or even how we raised our own children?
- Have you considered a meaningful and age-appropriate way for children to influence and give feedback on their church experiences?
- Are you fostering a culture of safe, trusted relationships? Are your general safeguarding practices strong around recruitment and vetting? Do we understand that children see all adults in a church as trusted, especially those who are the front for any reason?
- Does Kirk Session ask itself, ‘How would this affect our children and young people?’
If we consider both listening to and hearing from children and young people in our church in a meaningful way, we know that we will hear much more quickly if they are worried or concerned, or if something bad is happening to them.