Children will listen

Stephen Sondheim in Children will listen wisely wrote;

'Careful the things you say
Children will listen.
Careful the things you do;
Children will see and learn.
Children may not obey, but children will listen.
Children will look to you for which way to turn;
To learn what to be.
Careful before you say "Listen to me"
Children will listen.'

Children do not always speak their mind: often they cannot put into words how they feel, however what is often overlooked is the adult’s duty to create an environment where the child feels safe to talk and is able to talk. It is interesting that the court must determine the ‘ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child’. The word ‘ascertainable’ is key and Ryder LJ is more emphatic in Re D (A Child) (International Recognition) [2016] EWCA Civ 12, [2016] 2 FLR 347 when he speaks of ‘the right of a child to participate in a process about him or her’ and of Children Act 1989, s 1(3)(a) as ‘a fundamental principle’ of UK law.

Read the full article here.