Voices Of Children Research Articles

Justice for All: Tailoring Laws for Disabled Youth in Legal Battles

Disabled children are considered as the most vulnerable individuals. Because of their physical and/or mental disability they are also considered as the most vulnerable victims. Such children may also face challenges as “children in conflict with law”. Disabled children may be used for several criminal offences While such children may be used for theft etc, voices of such children may also be used without their knowledge or consent for committing several kinds of cybercrimes. Such children may also be engaged in sexual offences. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2013 mentions about engagement of special educator /translator for assisting disabled child victims. Even though The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of children) Amendment Act, 2021 also mentions about engaging such translator etc for helping disabled children, the Act however does not provide much information about the tools and the process of assisting disabled children in conflict with law with the translators and special educators. It is hence to argue that the rights of the disabled children in conflict with law may not be properly acknowledged and executed due to absence of legal guidance regarding usage of specific forensic tools, legal lacunae concerning the assistance of the special interpreters/translators, proper interpretation of their behavior/ communication of such children and their guardians /care givers. As children in conflict with law they may need to arrange for their defense lawyers and interpreters. But in majority of cases such children may not access free legal aid and proper interpreters due to their socio-economic conditions and due to lack of awareness of their parents or caregivers. This paper suggests that better forensic tools for assisting such children, assessing their behavior, their testimony and evidences in trials are needed on the basis of the types of disability. This paper also suggests that the qualification of the interpreters and translators may be revised considering the need of contemporary digital era and misuse of disabled children for commission of crimes.

The development of synthetic child speech in three South African languages

It is well-known that children with expressive communication difficulties have the right to communicate, but they should also have the right to do so in whichever language they choose, with a voice that closely matches their age, gender, and dialect. This study aimed to develop naturalistic synthetic child speech, matching the vocal identity of three children with expressive communication difficulties, using Tacotron 2, for three under-resourced South African languages, namely South African English (SAE), Afrikaans, and isiXhosa. Due to the scarcity of child speech corpora, 2 hours of child speech data per child was collected from three 11- to 12-year-old children. Two adult models were used to “warm start” the child speech synthesis. To determine the naturalness of the synthetic voices, 124 listeners participated in a mean opinion score survey (Likert Score) and optionally gave qualitative feedback. Despite limited training data used in this study, we successfully developed a synthesized child voice of adequate quality in each language. This study highlights that with recent technological advancements, it is possible to develop synthetic child speech that matches the vocal identity of a child with expressive communication difficulties in different under-resourced languages.

Children picturing their own worlds: Using photovoice to amplify children's voice in sociological research.

This research note highlights an emerging transdisciplinary research method-photovoice-and why it is particularly suited for sociological studies of children and youth. Traditional social science data collection methods can be limited in their ability to capture both the depth and breadth of childhood experiences and children's perceptions of their experiences. We describe an emerging method, photovoice, that is used more frequently in other disciplines, and its suitability for sociologically studying youth and children. We describe the limitations of traditional social science methods and how photovoice can help overcome some of these limitations. Photovoice engages participants as lived experts who contribute to both the data collection and analysis in an individual and collective manner. Through taking photos and discussing their meaning, participants can share abstract feelings and discuss sensitive topics in an imaginative format and express themselves creatively. We describe how previous research has used photovoice to work with youth from vulnerable circumstances and those who have experienced trauma as well as demonstrate how photovoice is well situated to bolster the tenets of sociological research.

Transitions from primary to secondary school in Greater Manchester: A qualitative exploration of the perspectives of Year 6 children who receive pupil premium funding

AbstractPrimary–secondary school transitions are widely recognised as pivotal developmental periods, which can have positive and negative longitudinal implications on the education, wellbeing and mental health of children. Yet few studies have sought the voice of children through interviews, and especially children in receipt of pupil premium funding (PPF) (a government grant given to schools in England to support disadvantaged pupils from low socio‐economic status [SES] backgrounds). This is concerning, given that children who receive PPF are at greater risk of poorer academic, social and emotional outcomes and exclusion during this time. Our study aims to explore the perspectives of such children to better understand their lived experience of primary–secondary school transitions. The sample consisted of nine Year 6 (last year of primary school in England) children who received PPF, recruited from two schools in Greater Manchester. The children participated in semi‐structured Zoom interviews. Transcribed audio‐recordings were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The children discussed a mixture of contrasting feelings towards the emotional, social, academic and practical aspects of primary–secondary school transitions. In addition, children highlighted the supportive value of having older siblings, cousins and friends already at secondary school and discussed the range of support that had been offered by their schools and how this could be improved. The study makes a unique empirical contribution to understanding the lived experiences of children in receipt of PPF leading up to primary–secondary school transitions. In doing so, we make a unique theoretical contribution to multiple and multi‐dimensional transitions theory in exploring the impact of wider social factors, such as SES, on primary–secondary school transitions experiences. This understanding has important implications for educational policy and practice, in addition to further research, especially given the methodological, theoretical and conceptual considerations discussed.

Time to be seen and heard: Including children's and adolescents' voices in the South African TB response.

Ciara Goslett's account of childhood tuberculosis (TB) sheds light on the challenges faced by children diagnosed with TB in South Africa (SA). Children are particularly vulnerable to TB infection and to dangerous forms of disseminated TB such as TB meningitis, which can cause death or major lifelong disability. They have distinct challenges with diagnosis, and TB treatment for adults is not necessarily child- friendly. In the absence of a child-friendly formulation, adult tablets are broken into the correct dosage and used to treat children. Crushed and dissolved in water, the pieces are not very palatable for children. There are therefore issues that may be neglected if the voices of children are not included in the TB response in SA. These include delays in the development and accessibility of child-friendly medication, vaccine shortages and a lack of educational support for hospitalised children under school-going age. Some positive progress has been made through the establishment of the paediatric working group in the TB Think Tank, and SA's contribution to pivotal childhood TB research studies. Additional steps could be the inclusion of children's feedback in community-led monitoring efforts and engagement between child TB activists and the SA TB Caucus, a collective of parliamentarians.

Scoping communication training in undergraduate children’s nursing programmes: A mixed method study examining delivery methods and content

AimThe aim of this study was to scope communication curriculum reported as currently being delivered within undergraduate children’s nursing programmes across the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. BackgroundCommunication between a children’s nurse and a child/young person influences a child/young person’s healthcare experience. Despite an identified need for a comprehensive and effective communication curriculum within undergraduate nursing, there is a notable gap of understanding of the delivery and content of communication training within children’s nursing curricula. DesignA mixed method, online anonymous self-report survey design was adopted. MethodsProgramme Leads of undergraduate children’s nursing programmes in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom were asked to report on how communication training is delivered to students on undergraduate children's nursing programmes. The Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS) was used for the reporting of this study. ResultsThirty-two programme leads completed the survey (51 % response rate). Findings show variability in the delivery and content of communication training across Higher Educational Institutions. Core communication modules featured across all nursing programmes, however, only two programme leads reported delivering standalone child-centred communication modules. Communication training was not always delivered by an educator with professional experience of children and young people in healthcare. Curriculum capacity had an impact on the delivery of communication training, with clinical practice being relied on to supplement child specific communication training. Programme leads highlighted the need for greater inclusion of child voice in shaping and delivering undergraduate children’s nurse education. ConclusionsThis study shows that while communication is covered as a core part of the undergraduate nursing curriculum across the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, it generally lacks a focus on children and young people and is not always supported by educators with professional experience of children and young people in healthcare. More work needs to focus on equipping undergraduate children’s nurses with the unique skills needed to communicate effectively with children and young people and incorporate learnings into nursing pedagogy.

Voice Disorder Prevalence and Vocal Health Characteristics in Children

Voice disorders impede communication and limit quality of life for many children. However, research demonstrating the prevalence of pediatric voice problems and associated voice use patterns is scarce. This investigation examined the prevalence of voice problems and vocal health characteristics of school-aged children. To examine the prevalence of voice problems in school-aged children throughout the US with reference to lifestyle, demographic characteristics, and voice use patterns. This study used a cross-sectional design to survey a probability sample of caregivers of children aged 4 to 12 years living throughout the US in 2023. Caregivers were surveyed regarding their children's voice use, voice symptoms, voice problems, extracurricular activities, and demographic information. Caregivers also competed the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality of Life questionnaire. The Fisher exact test, χ2 tests, and logistic regression were used to compare children with and without voice problems. Overall, 6293 panelists were invited to complete screening questions for the survey, and 1789 individuals were screened for eligibility between March and April 2023. Of these, 1175 parents (65.7%) completed the survey. Twenty-one (1.8%) were excluded for a combination of either high refusal rates (n = 16), speeding (n = 2), or straight lining (n = 12). The final number of participants included in analysis was 1154 caregivers of children aged 4 to 12 years (559 female children [48.4%]; 595 male children [51.6%]; mean [SD] age, 8.02 [2.49] years). The prevalence of voice problems in children was 6.7% (n = 78), and the lifetime prevalence was 12% (n = 138). Benign vocal fold lesions was the most common diagnosis underlying voice complaints, and other causes included respiratory illness, allergies, autism-related voice issues, and other neurological conditions. Risk factors for pediatric voice problems included being male (odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% CI, 1.0-2.1), having more than 4 individuals living in the household (OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.2-4.4), poor speech intelligibility (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.2-4.3), maternal history of voice problems (OR, 4.54; 95% CI, 1.2-16.4), participating in online gaming (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.0-2.3), and secondhand smoke exposure (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.6). Voice use-related risk factors included frequent talking, coughing, throat clearing, tantrums/crying, and vocal strain. Voice problems were associated with substantially detracted quality of life as measured by the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality of Life questionnaire, limited social/extracurricular interactions, increased school absences, and negative attention from adults. The results of this survey study suggest that pediatric voice problems are relatively common and detract from quality of life. Specific environmental and behaviorial factors are associated with increased risk for voice disorders.

Including the voice of children

Despite evidence of the benefits of including children's voices in global health research, they continue to be underrepresented. Implementation of how to include children's voices appears to remain an obstacle to their inclusion in global health research. In this manuscript, we present an epistemological frame that advocates children as experts of their own experiences and knowledge-bearers. Then we provide four case studies, to illustrate ongoing efforts to build equity in the design and execution of paediatric health research. Ensuring children's equitable inclusion requires recognizing them as active participants in their health and wellbeing, and empowering them to employ their agency in all interactions with researchers, while recognizing the dialogical nature of those interactions. Successfully involving children in global health research can lead to important psychosocial and clinical insights, that could be leveraged to inform future treatment and care practices. We present four case studies describing the inclusion of children in research and research development related to prevention, treatment and/or care of chronic and acute diseases (tuberculosis, HIV, cervical and other forms of cancer) in a number of global settings including India, Philippines, South Africa, United States, Zambia. The exemplars detail novel applications of a diversity of arts-based methods that are rooted in frameworks for participatory action research. They highlight the need to invest funds, training, time and resources for early and sustained engagement with children throughout the research process. We conclude by offering principles for equitably engaging children in global health research.

What are Aboriginal children and young people in out‐of‐home care telling us? A review of the child voice literature to understanding perspectives and experiences of the statutory care system

AbstractAboriginal children and young people are over‐represented in the out‐of‐home care system, yet their voices are largely absent in practice and policy decision‐making. This paper presents a review of research that captures the voices of Aboriginal children and young people in out‐of‐home care. Three key themes are discussed: connection to culture, connection to family and participation. This paper argues for culturally meaningful research that honours child and youth citizenship, voice and roles in decision‐making as critical to quality care and positive outcomes. This paper aims to highlight the importance of listening and responding to the voices of Aboriginal children and young people as critical to the provision of appropriate care and supporting positive outcomes.

Involvement of children and young people in the conduct of health research: A rapid umbrella review.

Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) have long been considered important to good research practice. There is growing, yet diverse, evidence in support of PPIE with children and young people (CYP). We must now understand the various approaches to involvement of CYP in research. This rapid umbrella review aimed to provide an overview of when, how and to what extent CYP are involved in the conduct of health research, as well as the reported benefits, challenges, and facilitators of involvement. We searched OVID Medline, Embase and PubMed. Published reviews were included if they reported meaningful involvement of CYP in the conduct of health research. Extracted data were synthesised using thematic analysis. The 26 reviews included were predominately systematic and scoping reviews, published within the last decade, and originating from North America and the United Kingdom. CYPs were involved in all stages of research across the literature, most commonly during research design and data collection, and rarely during research funding or data sharing and access. Researchers mostly engaged CYP using focus groups, interviews, advisory panels, questionnaires, and to a lesser extent arts-based approaches such as photovoice and drawing. Visual and active creative methods were more commonly used with children ≤12 years. The evidence showed a shared understanding of the benefits, challenges, and facilitators for involvement of CYP, such as time and resource commitment and building partnership. Overall, the review identified consistency in the range of methods and approaches used, and stages of research with which CYP are commonly involved. There is a need for more consistent reporting of PPIE in the literature, both in terminology and detail used. Furthermore, the impact of approaches to CYP involvement on research and community outcomes must be better evaluated. This review forms part of broader research initiatives being led by the authors. Together, these projects aim to support embedding of child voices in research practice and to explore the desirability and suitability of Young Persons Advisory Groups within birth cohort studies. The findings from this review, alongside public and stakeholder consultation, will inform development of resources such as practice recommendations to guide future involvement of CYP in health research undertaken at the author's respective institutions.

Children's descriptions of their involvement within everyday food practices

BackgroundThe way in which children interact with food has a profound impact on their health and wellbeing. However, most research, strategy and policy where food is the focus are derived from adult perspectives. There is limited understanding of children's perspectives of the nature of their everyday food practices, and their level of involvement and influence. This work garnered children's (8–12 years old) descriptions of, and involvement in, their everyday food practices. MethodsForty-two children from 28 families from across Brisbane (Australia) participated in qualitative creative draw-and-tell interviews and 20 of these children (from 15 families) also completed Photovoice data collection. Data were abductively analysed through a social practice theory lens. ResultsChildren reported engaging in food planning, acquisition, preparation, consumption and tidy-up practices, to varying degrees of ‘less involved’, ‘in partnership with adults or other children’ or ‘independently’. This was influenced largely by the willingness of adults to relinquish control and children's desire to participate, as well as other contextual factors. Children were more independent in consumption practices, as well as packing lunchboxes and preparing food spaces (as preparation practices). Partnerships were established more so within food acquisition and preparation practices, with less involvement described within planning and tidy-up practices. ConclusionsThe findings add new knowledge and depth and breadth to that already obtained from parents, teachers and adult researchers, highlighting the importance of privileging children's voices when investigating their food experiences. This work may be used to guide adults to invite and support children to be involved in food practices that they report being less involved in, as well as inform how best to work with and include children in future research and food and nutrition strategies and policies.

Children's and adolescents' perspectives on living with advanced cancer: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research.

The quality of life (QOL) experiences of children and adolescents living with advanced cancer have been under-explored. Enhancing QOL for this population is a dominant goal of their healthcare yet, there has been little research identifying aspects that impact their QOL. The purpose of this meta-synthesis was to identify themes of QOL informed from the voices of children and adolescents living with advanced cancer. This meta-synthesis utilized meta-ethnography to synthesize data from individual studies in order to develop new conceptual understanding of what is important to children and adolescents about their lives when living with advanced cancer. Our analysis identified themes of QOL relevant to children and adolescents with advanced cancer: (1) feeling supported and wanting to support others; (2) re-establishing normal; (3) suffering and emotional distress; (4) new perspectives; (5) maintaining autonomy; and (6) awareness of time. These themes differed from more traditional dimensions of QOL often applied to children and adolescents with cancer. This research is novel as its developed themes originated from the direct voices and expressed perspectives of children and adolescents living with advanced cancer. This is a significant initial step toward both understanding QOL in this specific context and the measurement of QOL for this population.

The datafication of student engagement and children's digital rights

In this commentary paper, I will introduce the concept of engagement data. I define engagement data as the digital metrics, calculations and visualisations that are deemed to give an insight into students’ on-task behaviour, their participation, their perceived capacity to pay attention, or their (technical) interactions with an educational platform. These kinds of data are common in Learning Management Systems and learning content platforms on which schools increasingly rely. The categories of engagement data discussed in this paper include time spent on-task, task completion, contribution, and biometric data. Besides conceptualising engagement data, this paper invites both scholars and educators to reflect critically on the datafication of engagement. I will argue that engagement data only offer a limited, quantified idea of student engagement and that this has far-reaching implications for children's digital rights. Children's behavioural data is harvested without their explicit consent or knowledge. These engagement data then become prescriptive constructs used for monitoring and accountability purposes, ignoring children's voice in relation to their own (dis)engagement.

Hidden curriculum: Voices of Chinese rural migrant children

AbstractUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 emphasises the need to ‘reduce inequality within and among countries.’ In line with this goal, this study focuses on the educational experiences of five rural migrant children from an urban village in China. Using the concept of hidden curriculum (HC), the study explores whether these children have encountered social exclusion in their schools. Through interviews and observations, the study shows that the HC is not easily discernible but subtly influences students, teachers, and parents, resulting in a certain degree of social exclusion within various educational facets. Reducing inequalities through education presents significant challenges, requiring sustained efforts.

When morphology is not enough: The acquisition of voice in monolingual Greek children and bilingual children with Greek as a heritage language

ABSTRACT The acquisition of voice in Greek remains understudied, especially in heritage populations. Voice in Greek poses a challenging acquisition task for children due to its syncretism, marking various verb classes as well as passives. The present study explores the acquisition of anticausatives, reflexives, and passives in 6-to-8-year-old monolingual Greek and Greek-German bilingual children with Greek as their heritage language. This age coincides with the immersion of children in the education system. A Sentence Picture Matching task tested participants’ interpretation preferences when ambiguity arises in reflexives and (optionally) (un)marked anticausatives (reflexive/anticausative vs. passive interpretation); it also tested accuracy in passives compared to actives-transitives (passive vs. active interpretation). All children exhibited adult-like performance in reflexives. In anticausatives, despite their lower performance, they were qualitatively similar to adults, exhibiting knowledge of verb classes. Children’s preferences were predicted by age (active-morphology/ACT) and vocabulary (non-active/NACT), confirming the role of the mental lexicon in the acquisition of NACT anticausatives. The only difference between bilingual and monolingual children was in optionally (un)marked anticausatives, both in ACT and NACT, that was marginally predicted by age and grammar production respectively, suggesting that optionality affects bilingual more than monolingual children. In passives, children were less accurate than adults despite ceiling performance in actives-transitives. Bilingual children performed less well than monolingual children and performance was predicted by grammar and exposure. These findings reflect the difficulties of monolingual children with passives and their late acquisition which further affects bilingual development due to reduced input in heritage Greek.

A Content Analysis of Recent Qualitative Child and Adolescent Counseling Research and Recommendations for Innovative Approaches

ABSTRACT Children and adolescents communicate differently than adults and require use of creative, behavior, and play-based interventions in the counseling process. However, these strategies are not as often utilized to capture the experiences of children and adolescents in counseling-related qualitative research studies. Utilizing content analysis, we examined qualitative research studies published in counseling journals in the last six years to identify contributions, gaps, and opportunities for growth in child and adolescent qualitative research. Based on the results, we provide recommendations for conducting qualitative research using innovative adaptations to represent the voices of children and adolescents in developmentally meaningful ways.

Enhancing children's participation in dental research: A commentary.

The concept of childhood has evolved over the years, inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, shifting from developmental models to a conception of childhood that recognizes children as moral agents. This evolution highlights the importance of respecting children's agency and their right to be heard in matters that are related to them. In conventional health research, however, children's voices are often inadequately accessed. In this commentary, we discuss the imperative to recognize children's agency in dental research and a shift from research on children to research with and by children. Moreover, we underscore the importance of actively seeking and listening to children's voices and recognizing their agency in shaping research and healthcare practices in the field of dentistry. Further, we explore the application of participatory research approaches in dental research and provide examples of studies that have involved children in various capacities. We conclude this commentary by emphasizing the potential benefits of participatory research in both qualitative and quantitative dental studies to promote deeper understanding, clearer communication, and stronger advocacy regarding children's interests. Primarily, we call for greater recognition of children's agency in dental research and advocate for more inclusive and child-centred research methodologies.

A Youth-Led Congress on Children's Mental Health: Voices, Experiences, and Policy Implications

This report synthesizes the proceedings of a youth-led congress focused on the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health. The congress provided a platform for children to articulate their experiences, express concerns, and propose recommendations. The findings underscore the need for policymakers to heed the voices of children in shaping mental health policies and support systems.

Prelingually Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants Show Better Perception of Voice Cues and Speech in Competing Speech Than Postlingually Deaf Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Postlingually deaf adults with cochlear implants (CIs) have difficulties with perceiving differences in speakers' voice characteristics and benefit little from voice differences for the perception of speech in competing speech. However, not much is known yet about the perception and use of voice characteristics in prelingually deaf implanted children with CIs. Unlike CI adults, most CI children became deaf during the acquisition of language. Extensive neuroplastic changes during childhood could make CI children better at using the available acoustic cues than CI adults, or the lack of exposure to a normal acoustic speech signal could make it more difficult for them to learn which acoustic cues they should attend to. This study aimed to examine to what degree CI children can perceive voice cues and benefit from voice differences for perceiving speech in competing speech, comparing their abilities to those of normal-hearing (NH) children and CI adults. CI children's voice cue discrimination (experiment 1), voice gender categorization (experiment 2), and benefit from target-masker voice differences for perceiving speech in competing speech (experiment 3) were examined in three experiments. The main focus was on the perception of mean fundamental frequency (F0) and vocal-tract length (VTL), the primary acoustic cues related to speakers' anatomy and perceived voice characteristics, such as voice gender. CI children's F0 and VTL discrimination thresholds indicated lower sensitivity to differences compared with their NH-age-equivalent peers, but their mean discrimination thresholds of 5.92 semitones (st) for F0 and 4.10 st for VTL indicated higher sensitivity than postlingually deaf CI adults with mean thresholds of 9.19 st for F0 and 7.19 st for VTL. Furthermore, CI children's perceptual weighting of F0 and VTL cues for voice gender categorization closely resembled that of their NH-age-equivalent peers, in contrast with CI adults. Finally, CI children had more difficulties in perceiving speech in competing speech than their NH-age-equivalent peers, but they performed better than CI adults. Unlike CI adults, CI children showed a benefit from target-masker voice differences in F0 and VTL, similar to NH children. Although CI children's F0 and VTL voice discrimination scores were overall lower than those of NH children, their weighting of F0 and VTL cues for voice gender categorization and their benefit from target-masker differences in F0 and VTL resembled that of NH children. Together, these results suggest that prelingually deaf implanted CI children can effectively utilize spectrotemporally degraded F0 and VTL cues for voice and speech perception, generally outperforming postlingually deaf CI adults in comparable tasks. These findings underscore the presence of F0 and VTL cues in the CI signal to a certain degree and suggest other factors contributing to the perception challenges faced by CI adults.

Shall we play?: listening to children’s voices using a playful approach

ABSTRACT There is a paucity of research that has effectively listened to children's voices on matters important to them and has asked them how they would like to be listened to. This study used a playful approach to listen to children's voices about play spaces in their primary school. The research questions were: •How can a playful approach be used to listen to children's voices about what children would like their new play space to look like? •Why did children choose particular resources to communicate their thoughts about those spaces?Forty-two primary school children (ages 5-6 years) chose which method/s they would like to engage with to share their voices from blocks, clay, drawings, percussion instruments and loose parts storytelling. In line with our Playful Research Ethics Framework (PREF), interactive ethics sessions were delivered using puppets, music and Makaton and on-going assent was monitored.This article focuses on clay and blocks data; children's favourite and preferred methods to listen to their voices. Rich data were collected through artefacts, photographs and conversations. The findings suggest that incorporating a playful approach and providing multiple ateliers and resources to choose from, can ensure children's voices can be heard and amplified.The study makes several original contributions, namely, designing a Playful Research Ethics Framework, aligning the research design of multiple ateliers with free-flow play and including a large sample size. This study also highlighted children's agency within the research process as children chose how and when their voices should be heard, and invited children to share their preferences for being listened to in future.