Webinar: "Ethical Dilemmas in Research with Children and Youth / Dilemmes éthiques en recherches avec enfants"
On 25 September 2025, more than 100 participants joined the CREAN webinar co-organised with one of its member institutions, Université Paris Nanterre. We brought together researchers, civil society representatives, and professionals working with children in law- and policy-making. The reach went far beyond Europe, with participants also joining from Central Asia and Africa. One key message stood out: research with children demands clarity of intention, careful methods, and collective responsibility.
5 Takeaways from the discussion:
- Purpose matters: research with children should serve children and their rights, not only academic goals. Both children’s voices and their silences in research deserve thoughtful attention.
- All data involving children, whether primary or secondary, comes with risks: researchers must secure consent (including for re-use) and respect children’s right to be forgotten.
- Ethical oversight is uneven: not all institutions have strong ethic committees; adequate resources, expertise in children’s rights, and shared responsibility are needed.
- Safe participation of children is shaped by context: lack of researcher independence, parental consent requirements, or broader factors such as conflict, poverty, and disability may limit children’s safe participation and demand strong mitigation measures.
- No researcher should face dilemmas alone: peer support, collaboration, and revisiting ethical decisions over time are vital to strengthen collective knowledge and practice.
Join us to keep the conversation going!
- What ethical dilemmas do you face in your work with children?
- What kinds of support or structures would make a difference?
- We believe that children should also be involved in such discussions, what are your thoughts?