Empowering Children through Informed Consent: Lessons from a Piercing Specialist
As a parent, it is crucial to ensure that your child is given the opportunity to provide informed consent when participating in research. Recently, my ten-year-old daughter was selected to participate in a statewide evaluation of a school-based program covering potentially sensitive topics. She brought home a participant information and consent form for me to sign. I asked her if she knew what the research was about and she said no. So I asked her to read through the forms, and after the first paragraph she stopped and said “I don’t understand what they are saying”. After reading through the four pages, I realized that the language used was not easily comprehensible for her. Without her understanding the research's purpose, procedures, and potential risks and benefits, I could not consent on her behalf.
In contrast, for my daughter's tenth birthday present we went to get her ears pierced - her choice, not mine! Unlike the poor informed consent process for the school evaluation, the experience was really different. The piercing specialist made sure to communicate with her as an individual with autonomy over her own body, explaining the consent form, potential risks, and giving her ample opportunity to ask questions. My daughter was able to sign the form, acknowledging her understanding, before I provided my signature. The specialist also made sure to involve my daughter in the aftercare process, explaining everything to her directly, reinforcing her agency and bodily autonomy. She has been steadfast in doing her own salt wash for her ears twice a day!
Children have the capacity to provide informed consent, but it must be done in a way that is developmentally appropriate for them. While many of us working in the evaluation and research are fully aware of the need for appropriately tailored approaches, we often fail to put this fully into action and do only what is required for administrative purposes.
It is essential that we take the time to create child friendly materials and communicate with children in a way that is understandable so that children have a choice to participate or not. Ethical Research Involving Children has some useful guidance and ideas. As a minimum, consent forms should be in plain language at a level the child can comprehend. However, there are many other more creative ways using audio and visual techniques. Or just take the time to explain the research. Informed consent is a fundamental ethical principle that applies to all research involving human subjects, including children. By involving children in the decision-making process and respecting their autonomy, we can promote ethical and responsible practices in all aspects of their lives.
Ultimately, I did consent my daughter to participate in the evaluation, as I know how important it is to have children's direct perspectives on programs that are aimed at positively influencing their knowledge and behavior. I only did this after I explained all aspects of the evaluation to her and gained her consent first before signing the form. A shout out to Piercings HQ for enabling my daughter to experience a positive informed consent process and piercing experience “As professional Piercers, we will never pierce anyone without their consent – this includes children”.
Image credit: Britt Reints, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
