Having a Say': Children and Young People Talk About Consultation

There has been a recent surge of interest in consulting children and
young people about issues affecting them. Research in this area can in
the main be said to have been motivated by adult agenda, with little
attempt to seek the views of children and young people themselves.
This paper is based on what children have said about consultation.
They were critical of some of the more widely used methods, largely
because they saw them as unrepresentative. The main message from
the research is that children want to be consulted if it is done
properly, if it is about issues directly affecting them and if they see it
as likely to yield results that are likely to benefit them or other young
people. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.