Guidelines for Interviewing Children

We want to include children's voices and thoughts in our newspaper. But talking with children requires particular sensitivity and - sometimes - ought to involve special procedures. In particular, informing parents when we intend to publish material regarding their children is almost always a good idea.

In hopes of promoting a consistent understanding, here are some guidelines to keep in mind when you undertake reporting with children under 18:

Make sure you are clear with children about the fact that what they say may end up in print in the paper. Read it back to them. Let them hear what they said.

Err on the side of giving a child the benefit of the doubt. If a child says something that sounds out of line, go back at it and make sure she's expressed herself the way she wanted to. And make sure the children you intend to quote have your contact information in case they want to clarify their statements, or their parents need to reach you.

Talk to the child's parents prior to publication, in order to inform them of the interview and obtain their insights. If the parent objects to our planned use of the material, the matter should be discussed with an editor. Because the issue of parental consultation is a complicated one, here are some additional guidelines to follow when we intend to quote a child in the paper:

In schools: If you are reporting on a school campus or at a school event, the school's own release forms (or, in some cases, refusal forms) should suffice for quoting older children. But it is still worth reaching parents for additional discussion if the child is 14 or younger, because not all parents pay much attention to forms that come home from school. And don't underestimate the value of contacting parents in every case. Parents can help corroborate information and provide insight and context for how their children perceive things.

Note: While school officials often disagree, we do not consider it necessary to contact a parent merely to interview a child; the threshold is material we intend for publication.

Outside of schools: When we interview children of any age outside the context of school and intend to print their remarks, we should make every effort to contact the parents to inform them of our intention.

When we cannot reach parents, or when the parents object: In select situations, we may still use the quote. Questions to be asked in that circumstance: Is the quote essential to the story? Do we have another quote that could fill the same role without raising parental concerns? How old is the child, and how confident are we that the child understands the ramifications of being quoted in the newspaper? This is a decision that reporter and assigning editor should make together.

However, if a quote is extremely contentious or might cast a child in an unflattering light, parental assent should be considered near-mandatory. Only in rare cases will we be willing to publish such quotes over a parent's objections, and a department head must be involved in the decision.

Another approach to consider is using the quote without the child's name - but that's a last resort, not a first option. Consult our policy on unnamed sources for details.

Caveats: There are a few common-sense exceptions to the above practices. Here's an obvious one: We can safely assume that children who play high-school sports and their parents have some expectation that they are on a public stage - and that we can safely publish post-game comments without any rigamarole. When in doubt, consult your editor.

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