Voices Of Children Research Articles

The Impact of COVID-19 on Children, Young People, and Families in Sihanoukville, Cambodia: The Mitigating Work of M’Lop Tapang

ABSTRACT Globally, children have been adversely affected by the wide variety of impacts of SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus | COVID-19). Vulnerable children who depend on the support of education and health and social care systems were left unprotected as these systems were weakened by the pandemic. COVID-19 has exposed the already fragile situations in which many children and young people live and that thousands of children and young people would need ongoing support but remained invisible to statutory authorities. COVID-19 has also been a stark reminder of the vulnerability of individuals and societies and it has exposed deep divisions, inequalities, and injustices between different countries and groups of people. M’Lop Tapang is a local nonprofit organization registered with the Royal Government of Cambodia. This report discusses the efforts of M’Lop Tapang following the declaration of the COVID-19 global pandemic in early 2020, to address the local community needs; to ensure the voices of children remained heard; and to promote children’s rights remaining a priority throughout the remainder of the pandemic. What is already known on this topic Vulnerable children are dependent on remaining visible to education and health and social care systems to ensure they are safeguarded and protected. Poor safety, financial instability, unemployment, challenges to children’s rights and displacement all have the potential to increase vulnerabilities and intensify inequalities. The COVID-19 global pandemic has widened the global lens for the nursing profession and to effect change, children’s nurses need to think globally and act locally. What this study adds This study provides insights into the challenges faced by children and families in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, during the early part of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) pandemic in 2020–2021. The economic impact of COVID-19 on children and families living in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, between 2020 and 2021 is reviewed. The learning from the pragmatic and rapid interventions of M’Lop Tapang, Sihanoukville during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, are of use in other countries around the world in future epidemic or pandemic situations.

Effect of Partial Deafness on Voice in Children

Elevated hearing thresholds cause disturbances in auditory control of voice. This leads to voice disorders that are described by changes in acoustic parameters of voice measured objectively. Voice changes can also be detected by perceptive assessment with GRBAS scale.This article presents the results of the study performed to analyze voice characteristics in a group of children with prelingual partial deafness (PD), a condition with normal hearing at low frequencies and deep hypoacusis (near deafness) at high frequencies. Voice disorders accompanying partial deafness were not a subject of the intensive study before, therefore our study provides valuable data and help to understand more complex clinical aspects of PD.The study showed that voice characteristics in children with PD differs from children with normal hearing and shows some differences compared to voice of children with other types of hearing impairment. Major changes in PD are seen in frequency (F0, vF0), amplitude (vAm, sAPQ), noise (NHR), and tremor (FTRI) parameters. The changes were present in all groups of objective measures, which makes a difference versus normal hearing; however the most significant changes were seen in a narrower range of parameters compared to children in other types of hearing impairment.Objective parameters correlate with the subjective features of voice of children with partial deafness. With use of GRBAS scale, subjective voice assessment showed elevated indices of grade, roughness, breathy, asthenic and strained voice, which described slightly harsh, breathy, dull, and a little tensed voice.

Participatory Research (PR) Working With Adolescent Research Assistants in a Specialist School

The SEND Code of Practice (DfE & DoH, 2015) and a growing body of literature highlight the need to “unmute” the voices of children and young people (Alderson, 2008; Christensen & James, 2008; Kellett, 2010). For clarity, the terms “child” and “children” will be used throughout this introduction to represent all individuals under the age of 18. Within educational psychology practice, emphasis is placed on gathering the views of children and representing these views fairly. This brief report describes participatory research involving a small group of adolescent research assistants in the design, analysis, and dissemination phases of a larger research project. These research assistants attended a school for students with social, emotional, and mental health needs, and many had (or were in the process of being assessed for) an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Their feedback and recommendations for future researchers with regards to recruitment and participatory practices are of value to those within the educational psychology field and beyond.

Children are exposed to much more alcohol advertising when a liquor store is sited near a school

The physical location of liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol(1). As children transit to and from school, it is feasible that the presence of liquor stores near schools could also increase their exposure to alcohol advertising. Cumulative exposure to advertising influences alcohol attitudes, intentions and alcohol use(2), so reducing children’s exposure to alcohol advertising is important to delay the initiation of drinking and reduce future harms. As this has not yet been investigated in Australia, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a liquor store near a school was associated with an increased prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising in Perth, Western Australia. We identified all outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500m radius (audit zone) of 64 randomly selected primary and secondary schools from low and high socio-economic areas across metropolitan Perth. We recorded the size, type, setting, and location of each advertisement during field data collection. Each zone was categorised by the presence or absence of at least one liquor store within the school audit zone, and results compared across these stratifications. Over half (56%) of the 64 school audit zones had at least one alcohol advertisement. On average, there were 5.9 alcohol advertisements per zone. School audit zones that contained a liquor store (59%) had over thirty times the average number of alcohol advertisements compared with audit zones that did not contain a liquor store (9.7 vs 0.3). The majority of all the alcohol advertisements identified (63%) were located outside a liquor outlet as opposed to other food businesses (2%), along the roadside (31%), on a bus shelter (3%) or on/outside another business (0.5%). Our findings that Perth schools with a liquor store nearby had more outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500m radius, compared with schools without a nearby liquor store, were independent of school type (primary or secondary) or the socio-economic status of the area. This poses significant concerns about the exposure of underage populations to outdoor alcohol advertising, and the resultant influence on alcohol use. These results underscore the necessity for policy interventions to mitigate children’s exposure to alcohol marketing, especially during the daily school commute, by regulating the location of liquor stores and alcohol promotion near schools. It will be important to incorporate the voices of children when developing future policies to assert their right to be consulted, heard and appropriately influence their environments.

Gathering voices and experiences of Australian military families: Developing family support resources

LAY SUMMARY Research has often overlooked the voices of children from Australian Defence Force families. Past research on how young children experience military family life relied heavily on parents’ perspectives alone, leaving children’s voices unheard. In this study, 19 young children were recognized as competent communicators and experts in their own lives while also valuing the insights of their parents and early childhood educators. Children’s unique perspectives, knowledge, and experiences were collected through shared stories, chats, observation, photographs, reflection, and the creative arts. The study found children of deployed parents experienced physical, social, emotional, and cognitive responses and difficulty with frequent relocations and family transitions, often related to parental deployment and training episodes. Risk and protective factors, and a shortage of resources that cater to their age and cultural backgrounds to support children in making sense of their experiences, were discovered. The authors co-created free online research-based resources to address this gap and build children’s strengths.

A rights-based exploration of children’s pedagogic voice in the classroom

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘pedagogic voice’ emphasises the capacity of children to express their views on matters related to teaching, learning and curriculum. ‘Pedagogic voice’ aligns with children’s rights to be listened to and the extent to which their views are fully considered and acted upon. Combined, these rights based approaches positively shape children’s learning experiences. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the longitudinal mixed methods cohort study Children’s School Lives to explore children’s voice. Grounded in the sociology of pedagogic voice literature and building upon research on children’s participatory rights, the paper explores children’s experiences of being heard and actively participating in decision-making processes in diverse primary school settings in Ireland. It analyses children's voice by looking at their capacity to influence their own learning, contrasting their experiences and perspectives, to those of their teachers. Findings illustrate the interplay between children’s and teachers’ narratives regarding children’s voice and their pedagogical encounters to explore the impact on teaching and learning processes, highlighting structural challenges to the realisation of children’s voice in primary classrooms in Ireland.

‘It’s not fair’: hearing the voices of young children

ABSTRACT The ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Article 12 on children’s right to participate in matters affecting them, provides a rationale for including the voices of young children when seeking to better understand their lives. Early childhood educators collaborate and converse with young children in their daily practice, learning with them as they enhance children’s learning opportunities. This article explores opportunities and challenges in listening to young children’s voices, in a manner that ensures they are heard, and feel heard. It contends that early childhood education and care [ECEC], with its unique pedagogy and methods, is well placed to access and activate young children’s voices, and considers the factors contributing to the gap found between conceptualisations of children’s voice and its practical realisation within ECEC.

In search of a prerequisite for infant participation in pregnancy: a depth-hermeneutical interpretation of conversations between coming mothers and midwives

Based on the fact that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) gives the right to participate and be heard in situations that affect their lives to all children, even pre-verbal infants, we have looked for the infant voice in parental narratives about their child. Conversations between 16 mothers and a professional at two stages were videotaped and transcribed. The first conversation between mother and midwife took place in pregnancy and, the second, between mother and health nurse, was completed when the child was about six months old. We wanted to invent a method that could find the voice of pre-verbal children, even before birth, a method capable of registering the child’s impact on us and decoding this influence into common language and practical action. Based on infant research on intersubjectivity and qualitative methodology from psychosocial research, we developed a procedure of depth-hermeneutical interpretation of the parental narratives. In this article we describe the results from the interpretation of the narratives made in pregnancy. Through the procedure of Scenic-Narrative Microanalysis, a very suitable method of depth-hermeneutic group interpretation, we identified three different areas of conflict or tension in the data material: container versus oneness; openness versus narrowness; and control versus curiosity. A description of the epistemological foundations and the research procedures from data collection to interpretation will be given. The results from the second round of interpretation will be analysed and compared with the results from the pregnancy narratives, and published in a future article.

"Mom Said after the Spring Festival, I've Grown a Year": Chinese Preschoolers' Perspectives on Growing Up.

Previous studies on child development have emphasized universal developmental stages and socialization, overlooking a direct investigation of young children's subjective understanding of growing up. This study explored the perspectives of preschool children on growing up. Participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and drawing-telling were employed to investigate 56 urban Chinese preschoolers. The theoretical framework adopted for this study was Merleau-Ponty's existential phenomenology, providing a lens through which the children's voices were elucidated. The results revealed that children perceive their growth holistically across four themes: body, space, skills, and relations. Their perception of growing up adheres to a structure-agency duality, where social influences and children's agency coalesce to shape their understanding of growing up. Adults contribute by embedding significance in daily situations and designated "occupations", while children actively reinterpret these societal narratives, forging their conceptions of growing up. These findings suggest a need for educational approaches that resonate with children's interpretations of their evolving lifeworld beyond merely imparting knowledge.

Play value of digital play spaces: Children's voices

Play for plays sake emphasises the significance of how children characterise play opposed to any secondary purposes or benefits it may generate. The concept of play value draws attention to how the space in which children play proffers the experiences that children want. Increasingly, digital play experiences are emerging as spaces for play. This inquiry aims to examine the play value of digital spaces, specifically how play is afforded by the digital space from the perspective of children. Eight children aged 11 years old participated in seven focus groups, creating comic strips which were used to elicit discussions. Focus group analysis generated three themes with associated sub-themes which were collectively explained by the overarching theme of endless possibilities in play in digital spaces. This study provides a new understanding of how digital spaces affords play value from the child's perspective.

Analysis of The Role of Emphasizing the Diaphragm on Breath Control in The Teaching of Beginning Children's Voices

In the teaching of children's vocal music to beginners, the control of breath by the diaphragm is a common topic. Some teachers believe that the use of the diaphragm can help students increase their volume, stabilize their pitch, extend their breathing, and increase their expressiveness. However, some teachers believe that overemphasis on the role of the diaphragm will cause students to neglect other vocal skills, and even cause tension and damage to the body and vocal cords. There are advantages and disadvantages in emphasizing the control of breath by the diaphragm in teaching beginners of children's vocal music. Teachers should flexibly use different teaching methods and techniques according to the specific circumstances and needs of each student. They should not only cultivate students' ability to perceive and control diaphragm movement, but also pay attention to avoiding some possible negative effects. Only in this way can students truly enjoy the fun of vocal music and develop their potential and personality. The diaphragm is the most commonly used vocal organ in vocal music teaching and plays an important role in its practice and singing. This article analyzes the necessity and feasibility of emphasizing the diaphragm in the teaching of vocal beginners from the basic theory of diaphragmatic breathing method and the issue of emphasizing the diaphragm in the teaching of vocal beginners. After analyzing the situation of the effect of diaphragm. This paper puts forward some inspirations for teaching suitable for vocal beginners, and hopes to be helpful to vocal teachers in teaching vocal beginners.

Children’s Concepts of the Environment: An Opportunity for Environmental Education as a Tool for Sustainability in Botswana Preschools

AbstractThe role of environmental education as a vehicle for sustainability in Early Childhood Education is an under researched area in the global south, when compared with the global north. In spite of the fragmented approaches that have been used globally, and recent initiatives by UNESCO through its advocacy, there is very little evidence of action in this area in African countries like Botswana. Specifically, research and theorising to support advocacy and uptake of environmental education as a tool for Sustainable Education in early childhood is lacking or emergent, at best. For the preschool child as a learner who has the right to be involved in issues that concern life here, now and in the future, this research draws on a global research where young children have been shown to possess knowledge about the earth, clear thoughts about environmental issues, the responsibility people carry, and ideas about what to do about environmental issues. It is imperative to contextualize knowledge, thoughts, and ideas in varying specific contexts, such as in Botswana, where culturally, voices of children have quite often been stifled. Henceforth, this research sought to highlight preschool children’s concepts about the environment, specifically through their expressions on the state of the environment in Botswana. Botswana preschool children’s comments on the state of the environment were solicited using a baseline scan of a picture of the globe drawn from OMEP’s global research showing young children cleaning the earth. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research considers how these children’s interpretations are influenced by their contextual discourses emanating from their conceptions of their environment and experiences. The research further revealed that when given the opportunity to talk freely about what they saw in the picture and their interpretations of the image, the children’s concepts provided a good basis for understanding their experiences relating to the state of the environment in their local contexts. The concepts that they hold can give cues about strategies that can be employed to integrate environmental education as a tool for sustainability education to meet the 2030 ESD agenda in Botswana’s pre-school education.

Label superiority effect on emotional voices in young children

ABSTRACT Emotion labels can be helpful for creating emotion categories. Russell and Widen (2002) demonstrated the label superiority effect; that is, emotion labels produce a more precise categorization of emotional faces than the corresponding emotional faces. The current study aimed to test the label superiority effect on emotional voices and examined whether emotion labels produce a more precise categorization of emotional voices than the corresponding emotional voices. Four- to six-year-olds were shown emotion categories, represented by a box, and emotion labels (e.g., ‘happy’ label) or corresponding unlabelled vocal expressions were used to specify the target emotions. The children had to decide which of a group of test voices should go into the box and which should be left out. We presented happy and angry voices in Experiment 1 and angry and fearful voices in Experiment 2. The results in Experiment 2, but not in Experiment 1, showed that children were more likely to correctly choose the target emotion using the emotion label than the emotional voices, partially confirming the label superiority effect on emotional voices.

‘Where do you feel it most?’ Using body mapping to explore the lived experiences of racism with 10‐ and 11‐year‐olds

AbstractThis paper presents an overview of the arts‐based methodology used in a research project that aimed to explore the impact of the lived experiences of racism on 10‐ and 11‐year‐old children in the United Kingdom. The research responds to the relative lack of literature concerning the racialised experiences of young children. We discuss how we developed the arts‐based method of body mapping as an ethical approach to foregrounding the children's voices. We consider that this approach contributes to knowledge and understanding about exploring the nuanced and complex relationship between the children's external worlds and their internal feelings, and supporting them to process and communicate this. We suggest that the method presented is transferable, and present our ethically engaged, arts‐based planning framework that can be used if others wish to adopt this way of working.

Impact of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Future Nurse Standards on children's nursing: A critical discussion

Edge et al explore the current concerns and ongoing debate around the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Future Nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses (2018). This article looks at the impact of the standards on changes to pre-registration children's nursing education, exploring the impact on ensuring students are equipped with the right knowledge and skills to meet children, young people and their families' needs. Central to the discussion is the importance of hearing the voice of children and young people, and families are considered central to the ongoing discussion that is integral in shaping our future nursing workforce.

Centering Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers’ Whole Selves: A Collaborative Approach to Course Syllabus Design

In this participatory research, two pre-service teachers (PSTs) and a mathematics teacher educator (MTE) collaboratively analyzed multiple voices that influence syllabi from elementary mathematics teaching methods courses. Findings suggest syllabi fall along a continuum from harmonious to dissonant orchestration of the voices of past and present children, PSTs, MTEs, universities, and state policies. Formatting, stance makers, and content and wording influenced the kind of multivocality that addressivity, ventriloquation, and hybridization constituted. These findings informed our use of collage method to create a sample syllabus that centers the voices of PSTs and their future students. We discuss implications that intentional syllabus design decisions may have in humanizing these documents and fostering a relationship of mutuality and support between PSTs and MTEs.

How do children perceive and understand the experience of household food insecurity? A narrative review of the literature

PurposeChildren's food insecurity experiences are largely unrepresented in academic literature. Parents and caregivers cannot always accurately evaluate their children's attitudes or experiences, and even within the same family unit, children and their parents may report differing views and experiences of family food insecurity. The purpose of this narrative review is to identify studies that include children's voices and their perceptions, understanding, and experience of food insecurity in the household.Design/methodology/approachThis narrative review aimed to address the following questions: (1) “What research studies of household food insecurity include children's voices?” and (2) “Across these studies, how do children perceive, understand and experience food insecurity in the household?”. A database search was conducted in October 2022. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 16 articles remained for review.FindingsThe findings from this review were organised into three themes: Theme 1: Ways children coped with accessing food or money for food; Theme 2: Food-related strategies children used to avoid hunger; and Theme 3: Children attempt to mask food insecurity.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should further explore the long-term consequences of social pressures and informal economic engagement on children's well-being and social development. By addressing the social determinants of food insecurity, this study can strive to create supportive environments that enable all children to access adequate nutrition and thrive.Social implicationsOverall, the findings of this review demonstrate the significant social pressures that shape children's responses to food insecurity. Results suggest that children's decision-making processes are influenced by the desire to maintain social standing and avoid the negative consequences of being food insecure. As such, this review underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of the social context in which food insecurity occurs and the impact it has on children's lives. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for developing effective interventions and policies addressing the multifaceted challenges food insecure children face.Originality/value This review has highlighted a need for interventions to incorporate trauma-informed strategies to protect children from and respond to the psychologically distressing experiences and impact of living in food insecure households.

“They Told me I Should Feel Sad”: Narrative and Personal Story Telling as a Sensemaking and Ownership Tool for Young People Who Have Experienced Bereavement

AbstractThis research focused on listening to the voices of children who have experienced the death of someone important to them. Through a personalized narrative methodology working with practitioners, and with regard for cultural and religious beliefs, children were given safe space to tell their own truths to sense‐make rather than prescribing how they should be feeling or what they should be experiencing as part of their grief journey. Findings suggest this impacted positively on the children's wellbeing. The recommendations are to use this approach to open up dialogue instigated by the child, which is currently missing from contemporary policy and practice, as well as adding to the limited literature. Furthermore, the engagement with the topic of death is advocated for all children rather than simply retrospectively with those who have experienced it. As this was a small‐scale study, more research is needed.

Listening to children's voices: reflections on methods, practices and ethics in researching with children using zoom video interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to reflect on the enablers, challenges and ethical considerations in conducting qualitative research with young children using online methods. The aim was to suggest recommended practices to be put in place for researchers conducting online focus groups and interviews with young children.Design/methodology/approachThis research article explores the use of Zoom video conferencing as a tool to collect qualitative data with young children in Singapore, as an alternative to face-to-face interviews. Taking a child-centred participatory approach, children shared their perspectives of their experiences of child agency in school and at home through their drawings, pictures and dialogue in online group interviews. Schon's model of reflective practice was used to guide the researchers' process of reflections during the research project.FindingsScreen sharing and real-time nature of interactions of Zoom video conferencing enabled building of rapport and children's narratives to be developed while group size and the effect of parental influence provided challenges and ethical issues that needed to be addressed in the research process. Researcher withitness emerged as an essential quality in successful engagement of children in an online focus group discussion.Research limitations/implicationsOnline video conferencing platforms like Zoom provide a powerful alternative tool for participatory research with children. It challenges researchers to share control of the interactions and data collection process with children. However, parental interference and effect on data may present itself as a research limitation if not navigated well.Practical implicationsGroup size of the focus group has an impact on children's engagement levels and wait time for their turn to speak during group interviews. While parents' presence during the online interview ensured child safety and a comforting presence for the child, parents should also understand their role in the study to avoid interfering with the data collection process.Social implicationsThe Zoom platform resembled onsite interviews' spontaneity of exchanges which allowed the researchers to build rapport with children through small-talk and icebreaker activities. Establishing personal connections and building of trust were essential elements in ensuring children were comfortable participating in the interviews. Observing real-time behaviour and body language of children also allowed for indication of withdrawal of consent and participation by the children.Originality/valueThis research adds new insights to the emerging discussions on collecting data from children via online video platforms with suggestions of new strategies and recommendations to overcome challenges, as well as future implications and potential of using Zoom as an alternative tool for participatory research with children. This research conducted in Singapore provides an Asian context and is different from current literature on this topic, largely focused on western countries' reports.

Moving beyond western methods: a methodological toolbox for family entrepreneurship research in tourism by including children's voices

Recently, tourism scholars turned their attention to families, specifically children's experiences. Yet, research illustrating children's voices in tourism family entrepreneurship is missing. Social researchers are encouraged to include children's voices to reveal their lived experiences rather than considering them too vulnerable to be interviewed. This qualitative study, underpinned by constructivist epistemology, explored how families are embedded within lifestyle migration and the tourism entrepreneurial process on Hainan Island in China. A combination of methods was adopted to create a toolbox suitable for family research, including children's voices through whole-family interviews and LEGO® Serious Play® workshops. Playing LEGO® seriously ensures that the researcher does not drive participants' thoughts, and children can freely express their opinions in playful, metaphorical, and meaningful ways. Moving beyond Western-centered methods, data was collected at Old Dad Teahouses (or Lao Ba Cha 老爸茶 in Chinese) to create a friendly environment. Old Dad Teahouses are a Hainanese cultural ritual where locals gather to enjoy tea along with local savory snacks. Historically, the name Old Dad Tea refers to predominantly male customers over 50 years of age who regularly attended tea houses in the afternoon as part of their leisure. Nowadays, people who go to Old Dad Tea are more diverse in age and gender, and spending time there represents a popular leisure activity among families living in Hainan. We emphasize that our methodological toolbox allows us to explore how individuals construct their understanding through their own belief systems and culture. The methodological toolbox allowed us to understand the scholarship on family tourism entrepreneurship from a Chinese cultural perspective by providing insight into the experiences of 15 children from eight entrepreneurial families, providing agency to the children. This study aims to enrich the definition of family entrepreneurship by identifying how children as family members can influence migration and entrepreneurial behaviors and exploring the experiences gained by children through the entrepreneurial process. Children's voices are usually filled by adults within the family business unit. However, children are also rights holders and social agents. This study supports the right of children to participate and have their voices heard.