Citizen me!

Citizen Me! has been developed to help organisations, including government departments, meaningfully and effectively involve children and young people in their decision making. It highlights the importance of seeing children and young people as partners with adults in the decision-making process.

In Citizen Me! you will find out more about:

• the benefits of involving children and young people in decision making
• building the capacity for participation within your organisation
• planning the process, choosing methods and providing feedback
• avoiding harm to children and young people as a result of their participation
• gaining young people’s consent to participate, when to obtain parental consent
• evaluating the participation process
• where to get further information.

Involving children and young people in organisational decision making makes sense because:

• children and young people want to be recognised as persons in their own right and to have their views respected
• like all people, kids have a right to express their views when decisions are being made that directly affect their lives
• children and young people are experts in their own lives and have a body of experience and knowledge that is unique to their situation so can get adults to look at things differently.

Download templates for information sheets and consent forms