My corona: listening to children in corona times

ABSTRACT

Created with twelve Members of Children’s Parliament aged 8–14 across Scotland, The Corona Times Journal was established in March 2020 as Scotland entered a national lockdown in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The children were supported to reflect on their experiences of the pandemic in response to themed journal prompts around life at home, health and wellbeing, education and learning, news and information, and the return to schooling. The children’s views captured in The Corona Times Journal significantly informed the Independent Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) carried out by the Observatory for Children's Human Rights on behalf of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland on the impact of COVID-19 measures on children’s human rights. This article brings three of the Corona Times journalists together with academics involved in carrying out the Independent CRIA to reflect on the children’s experiences of contributing to The Corona Times Journal and, in turn, playing a key role in informing the development of the Independent CRIA and national decision-making processes. It explores the importance of children’s participation in decision-making during times of crisis when human rights are at most risk of being compromised.

KEYWORDS:

• Children’s rights
• children’s participation
• COVID-19
• pandemic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland is a collaborative of Scottish organisations working to drive implementation of children’s human rights in Scotland, with local impact and global learning. See Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland | The University of Edinburgh.

2 Found in 1996, Children’s Parliament is Scotland’s centre of excellence for children’s human rights, participation and engagement. All participating children become Members of Children’s Parliament (MCPs). Unlike other parliamentary bodies, Children’s Parliament is not an elected body. Rather it is a participatory one, engaging with children across a range of settings in order to include as many children as possible, many of whom face barriers to participation. See Children's Parliament.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paige

Paige (aged 11) are Members of the Children's Parliament in Scotland. From April - September 2020, the children participated as journalists in The Corona Times Journal, an online publication which gathered children's views and reflections on how the pandemic was impacting their lives.

Omima

Brodie (aged 12) are Members of the Children's Parliament in Scotland. From April - September 2020, the children participated as journalists in The Corona Times Journal, an online publication which gathered children's views and reflections on how the pandemic was impacting their lives.

Brodie

Omima (aged 12) are Members of the Children's Parliament in Scotland. From April - September 2020, the children participated as journalists in The Corona Times Journal, an online publication which gathered children's views and reflections on how the pandemic was impacting their lives.

Katie Reid

Katie Reid is a children's participation practitioner and researcher. She was part of the Observatory for Children's Human Rights Scotland team that undertook the Independent Child Rights Impact Assessment on the COVID-19 measures in Scotland in 2020 and worked with the children on The Corona Times Journal in her role at Children's Parliament (Scotland).

Christina McMellon

Dr Christina McMellon is a Research Associate at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Science Unit, University of Glasgow and has responsibility for young people's participation in the Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of yoUth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH) network.

Mary Ann Powell

Dr Mary Ann Powell is an Independent Researcher. In her previous role as Senior Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, Mary Ann was part of the Observatory for Children's Human Rights Scotland team that undertook the Independent Child Rights Impact Assessment on the COVID-19 measures in Scotland in 2020.