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What is the UN Convention?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the basis of all of our work. It is the most complete statement of children's rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history.

What makes the UN Convention so special?

The Convention has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child's life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights.

Every child has rights "without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status" (Article 2).

The Convention must be seen as a whole: all the rights are linked and no right is more important than another. The right to relax and play (Article 31) and the right to freedom of expression (Article 13) have equal importance as the right to be safe from violence (Article 19) and the right to education (Article 28).

We are the only organisation working for children recognised by the Convention.

The Convention is also the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. All UN member states except for the United States have ratified the Convention. The Convention came into force in the UK in 1992.

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UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - UNICEF UK

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The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the basis for all of UNICEF's work and upholds children's rights all over the world.

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The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Children's Version | Save the Children's Resource Centre

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The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important agreement by countries who have promised to protect children's rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child explains who children are, all their rights, and the responsibilities of governments

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OVERVIEW

There are about 2.3 billion children in the world, nearly a third of the total human population. Children are defined by law as people who are under the age of majority in their country, usually 18 years old. Whatever their age, all children have human rights, just as adults do. This includes the right to speak out and express opinions, as well as rights to equality, health, education, a clean environment, a safe place to live and protection from all kinds of harm. Children's rights are enshrined in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the most ratified human rights treaty in the world. Only one of the UN's 197 member states hasn't ratified the Convention - the United States.

The UNCRC seeks to protect children from harm, to provide for their growth and development, and to empower their participation in society. Article 42 of the Convention is a commitment to educate children and adults about child rights, but it seldom happens. Ignorance of rights puts children at greater risk of abuse, discrimination and exploitation.

That is why Amnesty International, Angelina Jolie and Professor Geraldine Van Bueren QC have co-written a book for teenagers: Know Your Rights and Claim Them. It is also why Amnesty International has created a free online child rights education course.

There are children in the world.

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WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Globally, children's human rights are violated every day. Children and young people are especially exposed to rights violations because they are dependent on adults, which can at times heighten risk. Children are likely to form the group at highest risk of poverty, malnourishment and abuse, and are often disproportionately impacted by human rights crises.

HOW ARE CHILD RIGHTS VIOLATED?

Sadly, all child rights are regularly abused or violated. This can start at birth. For example, an estimated 290 million children globally have not had their births registered, so they have no legal identity or proof of existence. This makes it nearly impossible for them to claim their rights throughout their lives - which means they may not be able to go to school, receive healthcare, or get a job when they are older. Girls in low-income countries have only a 50/50 chance of ever having a legal identity and accessing rights and services.

Around the world, over 61 million children do not attend primary school. An estimated 150 million girls and 73 million boys are sexually assaulted every year. In some countries, girls as young as nine are forced into marriage and children as young as six are judged as adults in criminal courts. At least 330,000 children are held in immigration detention in 80 countries every year, simply for being migrants or refugees. Many are forcibly separated from parents and families.

In 2019, one in six children was living in extreme poverty - a situation that puts children at greater risk of domestic violence, child labour, sexual exploitation, teenage pregnancy and child marriage. This number rose significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020, nearly 820 million children did not have basic hand washing facilities at school, contravening their right to health and putting them at greater risk of catching and spreading infection.

WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO A VOICE?

One of the UNCRC's General Principles is that children have the right to participate - and to be listened to - in all decisions that affect them. Participation rights are linked to children's levels of maturity and apply accordingly. This is to support their development, but it also helps everyone achieve better-informed decisions. It strengthens society.

Like adults, children have the right to voice their opinions and to peacefully protest. Today, all over the world young people and children are using this right. They are rising up to demand climate justice and racial equality, amongst other calls. Yet their perspectives are still often overlooked or dismissed.

CASE STUDIES

JANNA JIHAD, PALESTINE

Janna Jihad is a teenage girl who has grown up in the Palestinian village of Nabi Salih, located north of Ramallah city in the West Bank. It is part of Palestinian territory that has been under Israel's military occupation since 1967.

Janna, and Palestinian children like her, are denied their rights and face discrimination on a daily basis. The Israeli army regularly arrests children from Janna's village, often during raids on their homes in the middle of the night while families are asleep. Children struggle to access their rights to education and freedom of movement because of barriers and checkpoints which force delays on any journey. It can take hours to get to school instead of a few minutes. People find it hard to travel for work and to earn a living to support their families. For anyone who is sick, it can be nearly impossible to get to a hospital.

In 2009, when Janna was three, her community used their right to peaceful protest and began weekly demonstrations. But they were met with violence. When she was seven, Janna's uncle and her friend were killed by the Israeli military. Janna used her mother's phone to record what was happening and reveal the truth. By the time she was a teenager, her live videos were being watched by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. In 2018, Janna became the youngest press card-carrying journalist in the world, at the age of 12. Yet she has faced many threats for her work.

I started journalism at the age of seven because I wanted the whole world to know what is happening here and how we live in fear and uncertainty. I want a normal life, a normal childhood.
Janna Jihad

KHAIRIYAH RAHMANYAH, THAILAND

Khairiyah Rahmanyah was born to a fishing family in southern Thailand. The sea near her home is a rich source of seafood and home to endangered marine species, such as sea turtles and rare pink dolphins. In 2020, when she was 17, Khairiyah launched a campaign against the Thai government's plan to develop land on which her village in Chana is located, into an industrial estate. She spent hours picketing and travelled 1,000 kilometres to Government House in Bangkok to deliver a letter to the prime minister begging him to stop the development. As a result, the government decided to postpone its decision.

Khairiyah said: "I am really proud to be representing the stories of my community. I was born into activism and I have been fighting to protect my community since I was little. It has been painful to live this reality and I want life to be different for the next generation. As children, we must be allowed to learn about our rights and it's up to adults to encourage, empower and support us.".

As children, we must be allowed to learn about our rights and it's up to adults to encourage, empower and support us.
Khairiyah Rahmanyah

WHAT IS AMNESTY DOING?

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION

Knowledge is key.

Article 42 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child asks governments to '... undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike'.

To support Article 42, Amnesty International, Angelina Jolie and Professor Geraldine Van Bueren QC (one of the original drafters of the UNCRC) have written a book for teenagers: Know Your Rights and Claim Them. It explains child rights, shows the reality of what happens when they are denied, highlights the powerful work of young activists, and provides tools for young readers to navigate the law, take action and claim their rights.

The book is published in the UK from 2 September 2021, and can be pre-ordered in Australia, Greece, New Zealand and the USA. Denmark, Germany, South Korea and Romania are following close behind. We hope the book will be published in all countries.

Amnesty International has also created an introductory online child rights course, for young people and adults. It is free, takes 90 minutes, and includes interviews with child activists, self-paced learning and ideas for taking action on children's rights.

CASE STUDIES

YEZIDI CHILDREN IN IRAQ

Article 39 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) asks governments to 'take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts'.

The plight of Iraq's Yezidi children highlights the importance of this article. Between 2014 and 2017, the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Yezidi community in Iraq. Yezidi children were kidnapped and enslaved, tortured, forced to fight, raped and subjected to other horrific human rights violations. Thousands of children were killed or abducted.

Even though hundreds of others survived and returned to their families in Iraq, their homecoming did not mark the end of their suffering. These child survivors went on to face significant physical and mental health challenges which Amnesty International documented in a report published in July 2020, yet they received no assistance. Yezidi boys, who had been forced to fight by their captors, were often isolated by their own communities on their return. Yezidi women and girls who gave birth to children as a result of sexual enslavement by IS were often driven, coerced or even deceived into separating from their children due to religious and societal pressures.

As part of its advocacy efforts, Amnesty International called for a draft survivors law to be expanded to include children as beneficiaries of any reparations scheme. On 1 March 2021, Iraq's parliament passed the Yezidi Female Survivors Law, which provides the framework for reparations and assistance to survivors of ISIS captivity - including child survivors - with the aim of getting them the support they are entitled to.

IMPACT OF CONFLICT ON CHILDREN IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

The conflict in Northeast Nigeria has had a devastating effect on children, as documented in Amnesty International's report, ' We Dried Our Tears '.

Boko Haram has abducted hundreds of girls and boys and subjected them to further atrocities in captivity. The group has also wreaked havoc on communities across the region, pillaging villages and attacking civilians and schools.

Rather than protecting children fleeing Boko Haram areas, the Nigerian military has often unlawfully detained them for months or years and subjected them to torture and other ill-treatment. Amnesty International has also shown how the government has failed to ensure that displaced children have access to an adequate education.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Key Facts

The UNCRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty ever.

Who has ratified: 196 out of 197 UN member states. Who hasn't ratified: the United States

There are four General Principles underpinning the UNCRC:

1. The right to life, survival and development;

2. Non-discrimination;

3. The right to be heard;

4. The best interests of the child.

There are three Optional Protocols to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict;

2. Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography;

3. Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure.

Further Resources

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Whatever their age, all children have human rights, just as adults do.

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Children are likely at the highest risk of poverty and are disproportionately impacted by human rights crises.

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Introduction

Across the UK there are many laws which aim to keep children safe and protect their rights. These laws:

ensure children's voices are heard

set out when a child can take part in various activities

make sure children have access to education

provide for children having a safe home

provide support for children who need to leave home

make sure children are safe if they decide to get a job

make sure children's personal information is safe.

We've put together an overview of the key legislation in these areas, to help people who work with children.

Definitions of a child

Definitions of a child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines a child as everyone under 18 unless, "under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".

England

In England, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. Child protection guidance points out that even if a child has reached 16 years of age and is:

living independently

in further education

a member of the armed forces

in hospital; or

in custody in the secure estate

they are still legally children and should be given the same protection and entitlements as any other child (Department for Education, 2023).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 defines a 'child' as a person under the age of 18.

Scotland

In Scotland, the definition of a child varies in different legal contexts, but statutory guidance which supports the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, includes all children and young people up to the age of 18.

Where a young person between the age of 16 and 18 requires support and protection, services will need to consider which legal framework best fits each persons' needs and circumstances. The National guidance for child protection in Scotland gives more detail about this and explains how professionals should act to protect young people from harm in different circumstances (Scottish Government, 2023).

Wales

Section 3 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 states that a child is a person who is aged under 18.

Children's rights and views

Children's rights

Children's rights are protected by law internationally and within the UK.

International laws

Some rights are recognised at international level through agreements between governments. The UK has signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF), both of which set out a number of children's rights.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) sets out the rights of every child in the world to:

It sets standards for education, health care, social services and penal laws, and establishes the right of children to have a say in decisions that affect them.

(Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 1989).

Children's rights must be respected and protected online as well as offline (OHCHR, 2021). The UK signed this convention in 1990. The Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 ensures that children's rights are included in all legislation and policy making in Wales (Welsh Government, 2019).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which is moving through the Scottish Parliament, will incorporate the UNCRC into Scottish law. This means that public authorities across Scotland will have to comply with children's rights in all the work they do (Scottish Parliament, 2021).

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF) is an international treaty which gives a set of rights to both adults and children. The Human Rights Act 1998 made most of the ECHR UK law. This means that children can complain to a UK court if their rights have been broken, and if the claim is rejected, take their claim to the European Court of Human Rights.

Rights set out in the convention include:

the right to life

the right to be kept safe from torture and cruel treatment

freedom from slavery

the right to a fair trial

the right to respect for private and family life

the right to an education.

Children's rights in the UK

The Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF) into domestic British law. The Human Rights Act came into force in the UK in October 2000.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 protects children, young people and adults against discrimination, harassment and victimisation in relation to housing, education, clubs, the provision of services and work. The Act applies to England, Scotland and Wales.

Northern Ireland has a number of different anti-discrimination laws relating to the provision of services.
> Read our information about establishing anti-racist social work practice
> Find out more about safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children
> Find out more about safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people
Children's views

Children's Commissioners

Each of the four nations in the UK has a Children's Commissioner who is responsible for promoting and protecting the rights and best interests of children and young people:

England: The Children's Commissioner for England (Children's Commissioner for England, 2021)

Northern Ireland: Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), 2018)

Scotland: Children and Young People's Commissioner (Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, 2021)

Wales: Children's Commissioner for Wales (Children's Commissioner for Wales, 2018).

Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

When practitioners are trying to decide whether a child is mature enough to make decisions about things that affect them, they often talk about whether the child is 'Gillick competent' or whether they meet the 'Fraser guidelines'.

Both Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines refer to a legal case from the 1980s which looked at whether doctors should be able to give contraceptive advice or treatment to under-16-year-old girls without parental consent.

Since then, the Fraser guidelines still apply to advice and treatment about contraception and sexual health. But Gillick competency is often used in a wider context to help assess whether a child has the maturity to make their own decisions and to understand the implications of those decisions.

Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority went to the House of Lords and is often used as a legal precedent across the UK. In Scotland, the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991  sets out when a person under the age of 16 has the legal capacity to make decisions.
> Read more about Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

Leaving school and home

Leaving school

School leaving age varies across the UK.

England

In England, pupils can leave school on the last Friday in June if they'll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.

Young people must then do one of the following until they're 18:

stay in full-time education, for example at a college

start an apprenticeship or traineeship

spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

(Gov.uk, 2021a).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, if a pupil turns 16 during the school year (between 1 September and 1 July) they can leave school after 30 June of that year.

If a pupil turns 16 between 2 July and 31 August they can't leave school until 30 June the following year (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Scotland

In Scotland, if a pupil turns 16 between 1 March and 30 September they can leave school after 31 May of that year.

If a pupil turns 16 between 1 October and the end of February they can leave at the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Wales

In Wales pupils can leave school on the last Friday in June, as long as they'll be 16 by the end of that school year's summer holidays (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Leaving home

As young people get older they may start to think about moving out and living independently, for various reasons. They may:

want to live with friends or partners

have their own child to care for

want to avoid family conflict

no longer feel safe at home.

In some cases parents may ask their children to leave the home, for example for financial reasons or a breakdown in relationships.

Parents of under-16-year-olds are legally responsible for making sure their child has somewhere safe to stay.

Once a young person reaches 16 they can leave home, or their parents can ask them to move out. However parents are still legally responsible for their child until they reach 18.

Support for children who need to leave home

If a child under 16 is made to leave or doesn't feel safe in their home, local children's services can help.

Children's services should provide a family with support so that the child doesn't have to leave home. But if it's in the child's best interests to live somewhere else, they can arrange for them to live with another family member or friend, or provide emergency accommodation, such as a foster placement.

A child or young person aged 16 or 17 should contact their local children's services team if they are considering leaving home. Children's services should discuss the matter with them to see what support they need. Children's services may be able to work with the family to enable the young person to stay at home, or arrange alternative accommodation such as with another family member or friend. But they should also respect the child's wishes about where they want to live.

Homelessness

A child or young person may be considered homeless when their home is not suitable or they do not have the right to stay where they live. For example they may be living somewhere that is dangerous or overcrowded.

A homeless child is entitled to accommodation from their local authority children's services, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

England

In England, certain public authorities (including child protection services) have a duty to refer service users who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to a housing authority. They must get consent from the individual service user to do this, and allow the service user to choose which housing authority the referral is made to (DfE, 2023).

Statutory guidance for supporting homeless 16- and 17-year-olds is set out in Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation (PDF) (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, Health and Social Care Trusts have a duty under The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide services for persons under 18 who are children in need (Housing Executive, 2022).

Scotland

In Scotland, local authorities have a duty under The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide accommodation for any child who is homeless because:

no-one has parental responsibility for them

they are lost or abandoned

the person who is caring from them is unable to provide them with suitable accommodation or care.

The local authority also has the power to provide accommodation for any child in their area to safeguard or promote their welfare.

16- to 17-year-olds can also apply to their local authority as a homeless adult. All non-intentionally homeless people are entitled to permanent accommodation. Scotland's Homelessness: code of guidance (Scottish Government, 2019) states that a young person who has left their parents' home due to a "clash of lifestyles" should not automatically be considered intentionally homeless. Equal weight should be given to both the young person's views and the views of the parents.

Wales

In Wales statutory guidance for homeless 16- and 17-year-olds is Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless (PDF) (Welsh Government, 2010).

Financial support

If a child or young person wants to live independently it's important to consider their ability to support themselves financially. They may not be in a position to put down a deposit on a property, pay rent and bills, or buy food.

In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, young people are not legally entitled to have a tenancy agreement to rent a property in their own name until they are 18. In Scotland this is possible from 16.

Universal Credit is available for those aged 18 or over who are on a low income or are unemployed. In some circumstances 16- and 17-year-olds are also able to claim Universal Credit (Gov.uk, 2022).

The local Citizen's Advice Bureau can help work out what support a child is entitled to. More information is also available from Jobcentre Plus in England, Scotland and Wales or the Jobs & Benefits office in Northern Ireland.

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about homelessness on the Childline website. You can also download Childline posters.

Leaving care

In all nations of the UK, children leaving care at 18 are entitled to support from their local authority until they are at least 21.
> Find more about children and young people leaving care
Young parents

Young people who have their own children are entitled to support. The local children's services or the Citizen's Advice Bureau can advise about what help is available.

Child employment

Child employment

Age limits

The youngest age a child can work part-time is 13, except for children involved in specific areas such as television, theatre or modelling (Gov.uk, 2021b). Children working in these areas will need a performance licence.

> Find out more about safeguarding in the performing arts

Children can only start working full-time once they've reached the minimum school leaving age - after this they can work up to 40 hours per week (Gov.uk, 2021b). In England, a young person must be in part-time education or training until they're 18 (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Young people can work as apprentices from the age of 16. Apprentices are paid a salary for their work and also pay tax and national insurance.

More information about apprenticeships is available from:

Some local areas also offer a junior apprenticeship scheme for 14- to 16-year-olds, which enables students to spend part of their week in school and/or college, and part of their week at work.

Rules about child employment

To help keep children safe and protect their rights, there are laws governing what kinds of work they can do, how they are paid, and when they can work. An employer can be prosecuted for breaking these laws.

In most cases, businesses intending to employ school-aged children need to apply to their local authority for a child employment permit before the child can start work.

Children are only allowed to work:

at certain hours of the day. For example they can't work during school hours, early in the morning or late at night. They also need to have regular breaks.

in places that are considered safe for children. For example children can't work in a factory or industrial site, or in most jobs in a pub or betting shop.

if it doesn't affect their health, wellbeing and education.

The local authority won't allow a child to do any job they think may be harmful to them.

Local bylaws may also restrict the kind of work children can do (Gov.uk, 2021b).

Keeping children safe at work

Employers have a responsibility to keep all the children they work with safe. This includes providing a safe environment and making sure they are doing a job which is suitable for their physical and psychological capabilities.

Employers must carry out a risk assessment before a child starts work, and take measures to reduce any risks identified. In most cases, if the child is below school leaving age, the employer must inform the child's parents about the results of the risk assessment.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance on health and safety considerations for young people in the workplace (HSE, 2021a).

Young people who work with other children

Although there is no law in the UK saying how old a babysitter should be, we recommend they should be at least 16.

Child care establishments like nurseries, crèches, and out-of-school clubs are heavily regulated to ensure that children in their care are safe.

In general, only people aged 18 or over should be included as adults when calculating adult to child ratios.

If over-16-year-olds are doing work that is classed as "regulated activity" they need to have a criminal records check.
> Find out more about criminal records checks
Work experience placements

The Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory advice for everyone involved in the planning or delivery of 16 to 19 study programmes, which includes best practice information about work experience placements (DfE, 2021).

The HSE have published information on their website for employers who have young people doing work experience with them (HSE, 2021b).

Age of consent and marriage

Age of consent and marriage

In each UK nation, the age at which people can legally consent to sexual activity (also known as the age of consent) is 16-years-old. ( Sexual Offences Act 2003; Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008; Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009; Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005).

This is the same regardless of the person's gender identity, sexual identity and whether the sexual activity is between people of the same or different gender.

Responding to underage sexual activity

Sexual activity involving a child under the age of 16 should be considered a potential safeguarding concern. Professionals who are aware of sexual activity involving a child aged under 16, should follow their organisational, local, and national procedures when deciding whether to make a safeguarding referral. Sexual activity involving a child under the age of 13 should always result in a child protection referral.
> Read more about recognising and responding to abuse
It's important to have open, honest and age-appropriate conversations with children with about the law, consent and healthy relationships.
> Read more about promoting healthy relationships > Find out more about our Talk Relationships service for secondary services
The law is there to protect children from abuse or exploitation. It is not designed to unnecessarily criminalise children.

Legislation in all four nations makes a distinction between sexual activity involving 13- to 15-year-olds and sexual activity involving an under-13-year-old. It also treats sexual offences by children under the age of 18 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and children under the age of 16 in Scotland, differently to those perpetrated by older people ( Sexual Offences Act 2003; Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008; Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009; Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005).

Guidance across the UK makes it clear that sexual activity between children who are close in age and understanding should not automatically result in prosecution. Instead, a range of factors should be considered to determine whether it would be in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), 2021; Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, 2021; Lord Advocate, 2022). These include:

whether the sexual activity was entered into willingly

any power imbalance, coercion or exploitation

the children's relative age, maturity and level of development.

Additional protection up to the age of 18

Although children over the age of 16 can legally consent to sexual activity, they may still be vulnerable to harm through an abusive sexual relationship. Practitioners should assess and address their safety and wellbeing in line with safeguarding procedures.

The law gives extra protection to all under-18-year-olds, regardless of whether or not they are over the age of consent. It is illegal:

to take, show or distribute indecent photographs of a child under the age of 18 (this includes images shared through sexting or sharing nudes)

to sexually exploit a child under the age of 18

for a person in a position of trust (for example teachers or care workers) to engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 who is in the care of their organisation.

> Find out more about the legislation relating to child sexual abuse > Find out more about the legislation relating to child sexual exploitation
Marriage and civil partnerships

In England and Wales the minimum age of marriage is 18 under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. Under no circumstances can anyone under the age of 18 in England or Wales marry, including if they travel to another UK country where the minimum age is 16 (Ministry of Justice, 2022a).

The law in Northern Ireland (Age of Marriage Act 1951) states a person must be at least 16 years of age on the day of their marriage. If they are under 18 then permission is needed from their parent or guardian, or they need a court order (NIdirect, n.d.).

In Scotland, under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 the legal age of marriage is 16 and no parental or guardian consent is required.

Forced marriage

Child marriage is a form of forced marriage, and is recognised across the UK as a form of child abuse (Ministry of Justice, 2022b; NIdirect, n.d.; Scottish Government, 2014).

In all four UK nations any marriage arranged through use of violence, threat or coercion is illegal; regardless of the age of the people involved.

England, Scotland and Wales recognise forced marriage as a criminal offence under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. For Northern Ireland it is the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act 2015.

The age of criminal responsibility

Age of criminal responsibility

The age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10-years-old ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998). The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 12-years-old ( Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019).

England and Wales

In England and Wales children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime. They are treated differently from adults:

the case is dealt with by youth courts

they are given different sentences

if given a custodial sentence, they will be sent to special secure centres for young people, not adult prisons (Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

In England and Wales, children under 10 cannot be charged with committing a criminal offence. However, they can be given a:

local child curfew

child safety order.

Children under 10 who break the law regularly can sometimes be taken into care, or their parents could be held responsible ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

Young people aged 18-25 are treated as an adult by the law in England and Wales. However, if they're sent to prison, they'll be sent to a special centre for 18- to 25-year-olds, not an adult prison ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the age of criminal responsibility is 10-years-old (Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998).

Children between the ages of 10 and 17 can be arrested if they commit a crime but are treated differently from adults.

First- or second-time minor offences or anti-social behaviour by young people can be dealt with outside the court system. Alternatives include being given a formal reprimand by the police, or attending a restorative justice scheme.

For repeat or more serious offences, young people can be sent to court. Cases are usually heard in a youth court, although for the most serious cases young people may have to appear in a Crown Court. If a custodial sentence is given they will be sent to a secure facility for young people, rather than an adult prison (Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998).

Scotland

In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility is 12 ( Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019).

Children aged 12 to 16 can be taken to court but only for serious crimes. Most offences committed by children of this age will be dealt with by early intervention (like a warning or help from a support organisation) or the children's hearings system ( Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995).

Data protection

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came in to force on 25 May 2018. It is an EU law that sets out guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information and aims to give individuals more rights over how their data is used. GDPR is incorporated into the UK's Data Protection Act 2018.

Why is GDPR important and what impact does it have on children?

The GDPR explicitly states that children's personal data merits specific protection. It also introduces new requirements for the online processing of a child's personal data.

Children have the same rights as adults over their personal data. These include the right to:

be provided with a transparent and clear privacy notice which explains how their data will be processed

be given a copy of their personal data

have inaccurate personal data rectified and incomplete data completed

exercise the right to have personal data erased if they wish.

A child may exercise these rights on their own behalf as long as they are competent to do so. In Scotland, a person aged 12 or over is presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to be able to exercise their data protection rights. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, competence is assessed depending upon the level of understanding of the child.

Even if a child is too young to understand the implications of their rights, they are still their rights, rather than anyone else's such as a parent or guardian (Information Commissioners Office, 2021a).

GDPR and online data

The provisions of GDPR help children to keep themselves safe online by giving them more control over the information they share.

GDPR gives children the 'right to erasure'. This means they can request online platforms to remove their personal data, including pictures, text or status updates.

If a child has shared any material online that they no longer wish anyone to see, they have a legal right to get this material removed, even if the content was posted by someone else.

Apps, sites and games must make it clear to users how and why they are using data.

Under this law, children must be at least 13-years-old to provide consent for an information society service (ISS) to process their personal data. Parents must provide consent if the child is under 13 (Information Commissioner's Office, 2021b). An ISS is an online service that is typically commercial and provided on request, for example social media platforms, apps, connected toys and devices, and search engines (Information Commissioner's Office, 2021c).

GDPR and child protection

GDPR emphasises the importance of asking children for consent before sharing personal information.

If a child is mature enough you should give them the opportunity to decide whether they agree to their confidential information being shared. If a child doesn't have the capacity to make their own decisions, you should ask their parent or carer (unless this would put the child at risk).

However, if you have a child protection concern, you must share information with the relevant agencies, even if you haven't been given consent. GDPR does not affect this principle.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have a 10-step guide to sharing information to safeguard children with advice on data protection as part of the child protection and safeguarding process (ICO, 2023).

References

References

Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland (2021) About the Commissioner. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Children's Commissioner for England (2021) The Children's Commissioner for England. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Children's Commissioner for Wales (2021) About us. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Council of Europe (2018) European Convention on Human Rights (PDF). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Department for Education (2023) 16 to 19 study programmes: guidance. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023) Working together to safeguard children 2023: a guide to multi-agency working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children. [Accessed 15/12/2023].

Department of Health (2017) Co-operating to safeguard children and young people in Northern Ireland. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2021a) School leaving age. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2021b) Child employment. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2022) Universal credit. [Accessed 15/11/2023].

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (n.d.) Young people at work - the law. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (2021b) Young people at work - work experience. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Housing Executive (2022) Ending homelessness together - homelessness strategy 2022-27 (PDF). Belfast: Northern Ireland Assembly

Information Commissioners Office (2021a) What rights do children have? [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (2021b) Children and the GDPR [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (2021c) Age appropriate design code [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (2023) A 10 step guide to sharing information to safeguard children. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Lord Advocate (2022) Lord Advocate's guidelines on offences committed by children [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018) Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation (PDF). London: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Ministry of Justice (2022a) Boost for public safety as four justice bills receive Royal Assent. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Ministry of Justice (2022b) Implementation of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) (2018) The Commissioner. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Nidirect (n.d.) Guidance on marriage procedures in Northern Ireland. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child. Geneva: OHCHR.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2021) General comment No. 25 (2021) on children's rights in relation to the digital environment. Geneva: OHCHR.

Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (2021) Guidelines for the prosecution of young people. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Scottish Government (2019) Homelessness: code of guidance. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Scottish Government (2023) National guidance for child protection in Scotland 2021 - updated 2023. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Parliament (2021) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Welsh Government (2010) Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless (PDF). [Cardiff]: Welsh Government.

Welsh Government (2019) Children's rights in Wales. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Further reading

For further reading about children's rights, search the NSPCC Library catalogue using the keyword "children's rights".
> Find out more about the Library and Information Service

Introduction

Across the UK there are many laws which aim to keep children safe and protect their rights. These laws:

ensure children's voices are heard

set out when a child can take part in various activities

make sure children have access to education

provide for children having a safe home

provide support for children who need to leave home

make sure children are safe if they decide to get a job

make sure children's personal information is safe.

We've put together an overview of the key legislation in these areas, to help people who work with children.

Definitions of a child

Definitions of a child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines a child as everyone under 18 unless, "under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".

England

In England, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. Child protection guidance points out that even if a child has reached 16 years of age and is:

living independently

in further education

a member of the armed forces

in hospital; or

in custody in the secure estate

they are still legally children and should be given the same protection and entitlements as any other child (Department for Education, 2023).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 defines a 'child' as a person under the age of 18.

Scotland

In Scotland, the definition of a child varies in different legal contexts, but statutory guidance which supports the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, includes all children and young people up to the age of 18.

Where a young person between the age of 16 and 18 requires support and protection, services will need to consider which legal framework best fits each persons' needs and circumstances. The National guidance for child protection in Scotland gives more detail about this and explains how professionals should act to protect young people from harm in different circumstances (Scottish Government, 2023).

Wales

Section 3 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 states that a child is a person who is aged under 18.

Children's rights and views

Children's rights

Children's rights are protected by law internationally and within the UK.

International laws

Some rights are recognised at international level through agreements between governments. The UK has signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF), both of which set out a number of children's rights.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) sets out the rights of every child in the world to:

It sets standards for education, health care, social services and penal laws, and establishes the right of children to have a say in decisions that affect them.

(Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 1989).

Children's rights must be respected and protected online as well as offline (OHCHR, 2021). The UK signed this convention in 1990. The Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 ensures that children's rights are included in all legislation and policy making in Wales (Welsh Government, 2019).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which is moving through the Scottish Parliament, will incorporate the UNCRC into Scottish law. This means that public authorities across Scotland will have to comply with children's rights in all the work they do (Scottish Parliament, 2021).

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF) is an international treaty which gives a set of rights to both adults and children. The Human Rights Act 1998 made most of the ECHR UK law. This means that children can complain to a UK court if their rights have been broken, and if the claim is rejected, take their claim to the European Court of Human Rights.

Rights set out in the convention include:

the right to life

the right to be kept safe from torture and cruel treatment

freedom from slavery

the right to a fair trial

the right to respect for private and family life

the right to an education.

Children's rights in the UK

The Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (PDF) into domestic British law. The Human Rights Act came into force in the UK in October 2000.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 protects children, young people and adults against discrimination, harassment and victimisation in relation to housing, education, clubs, the provision of services and work. The Act applies to England, Scotland and Wales.

Northern Ireland has a number of different anti-discrimination laws relating to the provision of services.
> Read our information about establishing anti-racist social work practice
> Find out more about safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children
> Find out more about safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people
Children's views

Children's Commissioners

Each of the four nations in the UK has a Children's Commissioner who is responsible for promoting and protecting the rights and best interests of children and young people:

England: The Children's Commissioner for England (Children's Commissioner for England, 2021)

Northern Ireland: Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), 2018)

Scotland: Children and Young People's Commissioner (Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, 2021)

Wales: Children's Commissioner for Wales (Children's Commissioner for Wales, 2018).

Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

When practitioners are trying to decide whether a child is mature enough to make decisions about things that affect them, they often talk about whether the child is 'Gillick competent' or whether they meet the 'Fraser guidelines'.

Both Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines refer to a legal case from the 1980s which looked at whether doctors should be able to give contraceptive advice or treatment to under-16-year-old girls without parental consent.

Since then, the Fraser guidelines still apply to advice and treatment about contraception and sexual health. But Gillick competency is often used in a wider context to help assess whether a child has the maturity to make their own decisions and to understand the implications of those decisions.

Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority went to the House of Lords and is often used as a legal precedent across the UK. In Scotland, the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991  sets out when a person under the age of 16 has the legal capacity to make decisions.
> Read more about Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

Leaving school and home

Leaving school

School leaving age varies across the UK.

England

In England, pupils can leave school on the last Friday in June if they'll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.

Young people must then do one of the following until they're 18:

stay in full-time education, for example at a college

start an apprenticeship or traineeship

spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

(Gov.uk, 2021a).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, if a pupil turns 16 during the school year (between 1 September and 1 July) they can leave school after 30 June of that year.

If a pupil turns 16 between 2 July and 31 August they can't leave school until 30 June the following year (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Scotland

In Scotland, if a pupil turns 16 between 1 March and 30 September they can leave school after 31 May of that year.

If a pupil turns 16 between 1 October and the end of February they can leave at the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Wales

In Wales pupils can leave school on the last Friday in June, as long as they'll be 16 by the end of that school year's summer holidays (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Leaving home

As young people get older they may start to think about moving out and living independently, for various reasons. They may:

want to live with friends or partners

have their own child to care for

want to avoid family conflict

no longer feel safe at home.

In some cases parents may ask their children to leave the home, for example for financial reasons or a breakdown in relationships.

Parents of under-16-year-olds are legally responsible for making sure their child has somewhere safe to stay.

Once a young person reaches 16 they can leave home, or their parents can ask them to move out. However parents are still legally responsible for their child until they reach 18.

Support for children who need to leave home

If a child under 16 is made to leave or doesn't feel safe in their home, local children's services can help.

Children's services should provide a family with support so that the child doesn't have to leave home. But if it's in the child's best interests to live somewhere else, they can arrange for them to live with another family member or friend, or provide emergency accommodation, such as a foster placement.

A child or young person aged 16 or 17 should contact their local children's services team if they are considering leaving home. Children's services should discuss the matter with them to see what support they need. Children's services may be able to work with the family to enable the young person to stay at home, or arrange alternative accommodation such as with another family member or friend. But they should also respect the child's wishes about where they want to live.

Homelessness

A child or young person may be considered homeless when their home is not suitable or they do not have the right to stay where they live. For example they may be living somewhere that is dangerous or overcrowded.

A homeless child is entitled to accommodation from their local authority children's services, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

England

In England, certain public authorities (including child protection services) have a duty to refer service users who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to a housing authority. They must get consent from the individual service user to do this, and allow the service user to choose which housing authority the referral is made to (DfE, 2023).

Statutory guidance for supporting homeless 16- and 17-year-olds is set out in Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation (PDF) (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, Health and Social Care Trusts have a duty under The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide services for persons under 18 who are children in need (Housing Executive, 2022).

Scotland

In Scotland, local authorities have a duty under The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide accommodation for any child who is homeless because:

no-one has parental responsibility for them

they are lost or abandoned

the person who is caring from them is unable to provide them with suitable accommodation or care.

The local authority also has the power to provide accommodation for any child in their area to safeguard or promote their welfare.

16- to 17-year-olds can also apply to their local authority as a homeless adult. All non-intentionally homeless people are entitled to permanent accommodation. Scotland's Homelessness: code of guidance (Scottish Government, 2019) states that a young person who has left their parents' home due to a "clash of lifestyles" should not automatically be considered intentionally homeless. Equal weight should be given to both the young person's views and the views of the parents.

Wales

In Wales statutory guidance for homeless 16- and 17-year-olds is Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless (PDF) (Welsh Government, 2010).

Financial support

If a child or young person wants to live independently it's important to consider their ability to support themselves financially. They may not be in a position to put down a deposit on a property, pay rent and bills, or buy food.

In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, young people are not legally entitled to have a tenancy agreement to rent a property in their own name until they are 18. In Scotland this is possible from 16.

Universal Credit is available for those aged 18 or over who are on a low income or are unemployed. In some circumstances 16- and 17-year-olds are also able to claim Universal Credit (Gov.uk, 2022).

The local Citizen's Advice Bureau can help work out what support a child is entitled to. More information is also available from Jobcentre Plus in England, Scotland and Wales or the Jobs & Benefits office in Northern Ireland.

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about homelessness on the Childline website. You can also download Childline posters.

Leaving care

In all nations of the UK, children leaving care at 18 are entitled to support from their local authority until they are at least 21.
> Find more about children and young people leaving care
Young parents

Young people who have their own children are entitled to support. The local children's services or the Citizen's Advice Bureau can advise about what help is available.

Child employment

Child employment

Age limits

The youngest age a child can work part-time is 13, except for children involved in specific areas such as television, theatre or modelling (Gov.uk, 2021b). Children working in these areas will need a performance licence.

> Find out more about safeguarding in the performing arts

Children can only start working full-time once they've reached the minimum school leaving age - after this they can work up to 40 hours per week (Gov.uk, 2021b). In England, a young person must be in part-time education or training until they're 18 (Gov.uk, 2021a).

Young people can work as apprentices from the age of 16. Apprentices are paid a salary for their work and also pay tax and national insurance.

More information about apprenticeships is available from:

Some local areas also offer a junior apprenticeship scheme for 14- to 16-year-olds, which enables students to spend part of their week in school and/or college, and part of their week at work.

Rules about child employment

To help keep children safe and protect their rights, there are laws governing what kinds of work they can do, how they are paid, and when they can work. An employer can be prosecuted for breaking these laws.

In most cases, businesses intending to employ school-aged children need to apply to their local authority for a child employment permit before the child can start work.

Children are only allowed to work:

at certain hours of the day. For example they can't work during school hours, early in the morning or late at night. They also need to have regular breaks.

in places that are considered safe for children. For example children can't work in a factory or industrial site, or in most jobs in a pub or betting shop.

if it doesn't affect their health, wellbeing and education.

The local authority won't allow a child to do any job they think may be harmful to them.

Local bylaws may also restrict the kind of work children can do (Gov.uk, 2021b).

Keeping children safe at work

Employers have a responsibility to keep all the children they work with safe. This includes providing a safe environment and making sure they are doing a job which is suitable for their physical and psychological capabilities.

Employers must carry out a risk assessment before a child starts work, and take measures to reduce any risks identified. In most cases, if the child is below school leaving age, the employer must inform the child's parents about the results of the risk assessment.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance on health and safety considerations for young people in the workplace (HSE, 2021a).

Young people who work with other children

Although there is no law in the UK saying how old a babysitter should be, we recommend they should be at least 16.

Child care establishments like nurseries, crèches, and out-of-school clubs are heavily regulated to ensure that children in their care are safe.

In general, only people aged 18 or over should be included as adults when calculating adult to child ratios.

If over-16-year-olds are doing work that is classed as "regulated activity" they need to have a criminal records check.
> Find out more about criminal records checks
Work experience placements

The Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory advice for everyone involved in the planning or delivery of 16 to 19 study programmes, which includes best practice information about work experience placements (DfE, 2021).

The HSE have published information on their website for employers who have young people doing work experience with them (HSE, 2021b).

Age of consent and marriage

Age of consent and marriage

In each UK nation, the age at which people can legally consent to sexual activity (also known as the age of consent) is 16-years-old. ( Sexual Offences Act 2003; Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008; Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009; Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005).

This is the same regardless of the person's gender identity, sexual identity and whether the sexual activity is between people of the same or different gender.

Responding to underage sexual activity

Sexual activity involving a child under the age of 16 should be considered a potential safeguarding concern. Professionals who are aware of sexual activity involving a child aged under 16, should follow their organisational, local, and national procedures when deciding whether to make a safeguarding referral. Sexual activity involving a child under the age of 13 should always result in a child protection referral.
> Read more about recognising and responding to abuse
It's important to have open, honest and age-appropriate conversations with children with about the law, consent and healthy relationships.
> Read more about promoting healthy relationships > Find out more about our Talk Relationships service for secondary services
The law is there to protect children from abuse or exploitation. It is not designed to unnecessarily criminalise children.

Legislation in all four nations makes a distinction between sexual activity involving 13- to 15-year-olds and sexual activity involving an under-13-year-old. It also treats sexual offences by children under the age of 18 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and children under the age of 16 in Scotland, differently to those perpetrated by older people ( Sexual Offences Act 2003; Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008; Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009; Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005).

Guidance across the UK makes it clear that sexual activity between children who are close in age and understanding should not automatically result in prosecution. Instead, a range of factors should be considered to determine whether it would be in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), 2021; Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, 2021; Lord Advocate, 2022). These include:

whether the sexual activity was entered into willingly

any power imbalance, coercion or exploitation

the children's relative age, maturity and level of development.

Additional protection up to the age of 18

Although children over the age of 16 can legally consent to sexual activity, they may still be vulnerable to harm through an abusive sexual relationship. Practitioners should assess and address their safety and wellbeing in line with safeguarding procedures.

The law gives extra protection to all under-18-year-olds, regardless of whether or not they are over the age of consent. It is illegal:

to take, show or distribute indecent photographs of a child under the age of 18 (this includes images shared through sexting or sharing nudes)

to sexually exploit a child under the age of 18

for a person in a position of trust (for example teachers or care workers) to engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 who is in the care of their organisation.

> Find out more about the legislation relating to child sexual abuse > Find out more about the legislation relating to child sexual exploitation
Marriage and civil partnerships

In England and Wales the minimum age of marriage is 18 under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. Under no circumstances can anyone under the age of 18 in England or Wales marry, including if they travel to another UK country where the minimum age is 16 (Ministry of Justice, 2022a).

The law in Northern Ireland (Age of Marriage Act 1951) states a person must be at least 16 years of age on the day of their marriage. If they are under 18 then permission is needed from their parent or guardian, or they need a court order (NIdirect, n.d.).

In Scotland, under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 the legal age of marriage is 16 and no parental or guardian consent is required.

Forced marriage

Child marriage is a form of forced marriage, and is recognised across the UK as a form of child abuse (Ministry of Justice, 2022b; NIdirect, n.d.; Scottish Government, 2014).

In all four UK nations any marriage arranged through use of violence, threat or coercion is illegal; regardless of the age of the people involved.

England, Scotland and Wales recognise forced marriage as a criminal offence under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. For Northern Ireland it is the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act 2015.

The age of criminal responsibility

Age of criminal responsibility

The age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10-years-old ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998). The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 12-years-old ( Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019).

England and Wales

In England and Wales children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime. They are treated differently from adults:

the case is dealt with by youth courts

they are given different sentences

if given a custodial sentence, they will be sent to special secure centres for young people, not adult prisons (Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

In England and Wales, children under 10 cannot be charged with committing a criminal offence. However, they can be given a:

local child curfew

child safety order.

Children under 10 who break the law regularly can sometimes be taken into care, or their parents could be held responsible ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

Young people aged 18-25 are treated as an adult by the law in England and Wales. However, if they're sent to prison, they'll be sent to a special centre for 18- to 25-year-olds, not an adult prison ( Crime and Disorder Act 1998).

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the age of criminal responsibility is 10-years-old (Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998).

Children between the ages of 10 and 17 can be arrested if they commit a crime but are treated differently from adults.

First- or second-time minor offences or anti-social behaviour by young people can be dealt with outside the court system. Alternatives include being given a formal reprimand by the police, or attending a restorative justice scheme.

For repeat or more serious offences, young people can be sent to court. Cases are usually heard in a youth court, although for the most serious cases young people may have to appear in a Crown Court. If a custodial sentence is given they will be sent to a secure facility for young people, rather than an adult prison (Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998).

Scotland

In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility is 12 ( Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019).

Children aged 12 to 16 can be taken to court but only for serious crimes. Most offences committed by children of this age will be dealt with by early intervention (like a warning or help from a support organisation) or the children's hearings system ( Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995).

Data protection

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came in to force on 25 May 2018. It is an EU law that sets out guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information and aims to give individuals more rights over how their data is used. GDPR is incorporated into the UK's Data Protection Act 2018.

Why is GDPR important and what impact does it have on children?

The GDPR explicitly states that children's personal data merits specific protection. It also introduces new requirements for the online processing of a child's personal data.

Children have the same rights as adults over their personal data. These include the right to:

be provided with a transparent and clear privacy notice which explains how their data will be processed

be given a copy of their personal data

have inaccurate personal data rectified and incomplete data completed

exercise the right to have personal data erased if they wish.

A child may exercise these rights on their own behalf as long as they are competent to do so. In Scotland, a person aged 12 or over is presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to be able to exercise their data protection rights. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, competence is assessed depending upon the level of understanding of the child.

Even if a child is too young to understand the implications of their rights, they are still their rights, rather than anyone else's such as a parent or guardian (Information Commissioners Office, 2021a).

GDPR and online data

The provisions of GDPR help children to keep themselves safe online by giving them more control over the information they share.

GDPR gives children the 'right to erasure'. This means they can request online platforms to remove their personal data, including pictures, text or status updates.

If a child has shared any material online that they no longer wish anyone to see, they have a legal right to get this material removed, even if the content was posted by someone else.

Apps, sites and games must make it clear to users how and why they are using data.

Under this law, children must be at least 13-years-old to provide consent for an information society service (ISS) to process their personal data. Parents must provide consent if the child is under 13 (Information Commissioner's Office, 2021b). An ISS is an online service that is typically commercial and provided on request, for example social media platforms, apps, connected toys and devices, and search engines (Information Commissioner's Office, 2021c).

GDPR and child protection

GDPR emphasises the importance of asking children for consent before sharing personal information.

If a child is mature enough you should give them the opportunity to decide whether they agree to their confidential information being shared. If a child doesn't have the capacity to make their own decisions, you should ask their parent or carer (unless this would put the child at risk).

However, if you have a child protection concern, you must share information with the relevant agencies, even if you haven't been given consent. GDPR does not affect this principle.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have a 10-step guide to sharing information to safeguard children with advice on data protection as part of the child protection and safeguarding process (ICO, 2023).

References

References

Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland (2021) About the Commissioner. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Children's Commissioner for England (2021) The Children's Commissioner for England. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Children's Commissioner for Wales (2021) About us. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Council of Europe (2018) European Convention on Human Rights (PDF). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Department for Education (2023) 16 to 19 study programmes: guidance. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023) Working together to safeguard children 2023: a guide to multi-agency working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children. [Accessed 15/12/2023].

Department of Health (2017) Co-operating to safeguard children and young people in Northern Ireland. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2021a) School leaving age. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2021b) Child employment. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Gov.uk (2022) Universal credit. [Accessed 15/11/2023].

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (n.d.) Young people at work - the law. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (2021b) Young people at work - work experience. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Housing Executive (2022) Ending homelessness together - homelessness strategy 2022-27 (PDF). Belfast: Northern Ireland Assembly

Information Commissioners Office (2021a) What rights do children have? [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (2021b) Children and the GDPR [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (2021c) Age appropriate design code [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (2023) A 10 step guide to sharing information to safeguard children. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Lord Advocate (2022) Lord Advocate's guidelines on offences committed by children [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018) Prevention of homelessness and provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation (PDF). London: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Ministry of Justice (2022a) Boost for public safety as four justice bills receive Royal Assent. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Ministry of Justice (2022b) Implementation of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) (2018) The Commissioner. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Nidirect (n.d.) Guidance on marriage procedures in Northern Ireland. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child. Geneva: OHCHR.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2021) General comment No. 25 (2021) on children's rights in relation to the digital environment. Geneva: OHCHR.

Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (2021) Guidelines for the prosecution of young people. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Scottish Government (2019) Homelessness: code of guidance. [Accessed 13/11/2023].

Scottish Government (2023) National guidance for child protection in Scotland 2021 - updated 2023. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Scottish Parliament (2021) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Welsh Government (2010) Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless (PDF). [Cardiff]: Welsh Government.

Welsh Government (2019) Children's rights in Wales. [Accessed: 13/11/2023].

Further reading

For further reading about children's rights, search the NSPCC Library catalogue using the keyword "children's rights".
> Find out more about the Library and Information Service

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Covers legislation and definitions about children's rights, ages of consent and criminal responsibility, school leaving age, child employment and GDPR.

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Early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to shape the trajectory of a child's holistic development and build a foundation for their future. For children to achieve their full potential, as is their human right, they need health care and nutrition, protection from harm and a sense of security, opportunities for early learning, and responsive caregiving - like talking, singing and playing - with parents and caregivers who love them. All of this is needed to nourish developing brains and fuel growing bodies.

For many millions of the world's most disadvantaged children - including children living in poverty or affected by conflict and crisis, children on the move, children belonging to communities facing discrimination, and children with disabilities - we are often missing this window of opportunity.

Millions of children are not receiving the nutrition or health care they need, growing up exposed to violence, polluted environments and extreme stress. They miss out on opportunities to learn and are deprived of the stimulation that their developing brains need to thrive. Their parents and caregivers struggle to get the time, resources and services necessary to provide their children with nurturing care in these contexts.

When children miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they pay the price in lost potential - dying before they have a chance to grow up, or going through life with poor physical and mental health; struggling to learn and, later, to earn a living. And we all pay the price. Failing to give children the best start in life perpetuates cycles of poverty and disadvantage that can span generations, undermining the strength and stability of our societies.

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The United Nations is part of the UN System. This is made up of different organisations that look after particular issues and try to solve problems around the world.

For example:

FAO - The Food and Agriculture Organisation aims to fight hunger, improve All the contents of food and drink that our bodies need to grow and be healthy. and farming.

WHO - The World Health Organisation aims to improve public health, and to fight diseases.

UNESCO - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation aims to improve education around the world and protect important cultural and historical places.

UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, aims to save, protect and improve children's lives. UNICEF is the UN organisation with the job of protecting the rights of every child, everywhere in the world.

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Introduction to the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.

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Laws protecting children’s rights | CRAE

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There are many international human rights treaties and domestic laws which protect children's rights. International human rights treaties are agreements between different governments around the world. When a country ratifies (signs up to) a treaty, it takes on legal obligations under international law . Domestic laws are laws decided by the UK Government and Parliament.

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Children's development and mental health are affected by factors such as the environments they're raised in, the relationships they build and the experiences they have.

Child development refers to the physical, cognitive, emotional and social growth that occurs throughout a child's life. Children's mental health - their cognitive, behavioural and social wellbeing - is affected by this development, as well as other factors like trauma and abuse.

All aspects of children's health and development work together to form their overall wellbeing. Our resources will help you find out more about child health and development, spot and respond to signs of mental health issues and foster strong health and development in children.

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Child health and development | NSPCC Learning

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How trauma and abuse can affect children's physical, cognitive, emotional and social development and how to support strong and positive wellbeing and mental health in children.

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Introduction

How do childhood experiences affect brain development?

Our brains develop from before birth and into adulthood (Siegel and Bryson, 2012). But there are key 'sensitive periods' during early childhood and adolescence where children and young people's brains are more affected by positive or negative experiences (Shonkoff et al, 2008).

What happens in a child or young person's life during these periods can have a significant effect on their brain development.

Positive experiences throughout childhood help to build healthy brains, while experiencing childhood trauma and abuse can harm a child's brain development (Shonkoff et al, 2015).

But our brains always have the potential to change and grow. It's never too late to give a child or young person positive brain building experiences.

Having caring relationships and access to support services can reduce the harmful effects of negative experiences and help a child's brain develop in a healthy way (Shonkoff et al, 2015).
> Find out why the bond between a child and their caregivers is important > Find out more about the adolescent brain in our How safe are our children? report for 2020
How we use metaphors to explain brain development

We want to create a shared and simple language around child brain development that can be used by all professionals, parents, carers and children.

Sharing the Brain Story uses six key metaphors, developed by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative and the FrameWorks Institute.

These metaphors can be used to improve understanding of child development and give positive brain building experiences to children who have experienced trauma.

On this page you'll find information about each of the six metaphors and tips on how to use them in your work with children and families. We also have a summary booklet you can download to learn more about each of the metaphors and access further reading.

Download the booklet (PDF)

Trauma and child brain development training

Sign up for our face-to-face training programme delivered by experts where we explore child brain development and the six metaphors through practical exercises, case studies, examples and more.

Brain architecture

Brain architecture: how children's brains develop

The first Sharing the Brain Story metaphor describes how the development of children's brains is like the development and construction of a house.

Early experiences build the foundations of our brains. Like a house is built step-by-step - first laying the foundations, then creating the rooms and wiring the electrical system - our brains are built in a similar way.

As good quality materials help build a strong house, positive experiences during childhood help build healthy brains.

Although it's never too late for the brain to benefit from positive experiences, early experiences build the foundations of brain architecture. A strong brain foundation increases the chances of healthy learning later in life (Shonkoff et al, 2007).

Negative experiences such as abuse and neglect can affect the brain's architecture by increasing stress-related disorders including:

mental health problems

drug abuse

diabetes and cardiovascular disease

(Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Building brain architecture

Like improving or rebuilding the architecture of a house - refurbishing rooms, strengthening foundations - the brain can also be improved and rebuilt following childhood trauma through an active process of maintenance and care from supportive, trusted adults.

Brain architecture can be built throughout childhood, adolescence and even into adulthood (Shonkoff et al, 2008).

The remaining five metaphors - serve and return, air traffic control, toxic stress, overloaded, tipping the scales - will help you give parents and carers the tools to build strong brain architecture in children and young people.
> Register for our face-to-face training to better understand how to foster healthy brain development in children > Read more about how you can use the brain architecture metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Serve and return

Serve and return: the importance of interaction

The serve and return metaphor from Sharing the Brain Story looks at adult-child relationships by comparing interactions between a child and adult to rallies in a tennis match.

From the ages of 0 to 5, children naturally start interacting with adults through babbling, gesturing and facial expressions. This develops vital language, cognitive and social skills.

Interactions between a child and an adult is like playing a game of tennis. When adults 'return' the child's 'serve' with a positive response, a 'rally' is created.

Just as good rallies between tennis players develop their athletic abilities, good rallies between children and adults strengthen children's developing brain architecture, improve their cognitive skills and develop resilience (Shonkoff et al, 2004; Shonkoff et al, 2015).

When adults do not respond to a child's serve or if children spend a long time on passive activity - such as watching TV - this can break the rally and interrupt development. For example, children learn language, more effectively face-to-face with a teacher or caregiver than by watching TV or a video (Shonkoff et al, 2018).

Improving interaction with children

Sensitive and responsive adult-child relationships help build children's cognitive skills and brain architecture. Research shows a clear link between social and emotional development and intellectual growth (Shonkoff, Boyce and McEwen, 2009).
> Discover how sensitive, responsive parenting can help to build bonds between children and their caregivers > Sign up for free brain-building tips with Look, Say, Sing, Play > Download our free Look, Say, Sing, Play resources
To increase serve and return interactions, you can:

focus on interactive, face-to-face activity, such as talking, singing and playing

respond to and build on physical and verbal cues: if they babble, babble back; if they play with toys, play with them

allow the child to 'serve' - follow their focus and return their serve with support and encouragement

maintain eye contact when interacting with the child - this helps to build a nurturing, secure relationship

positively reinforce children's vocalisations: children repeat behaviours when they are praised, which helps shape their babbles into words (Crowley, 2017).

> Learn how to build strong brain architecture through serve and return interactions in our face-to-face training > Get more information on how you can use the serve and return metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Air traffic control

Air traffic control: managing and ordering tasks

This Sharing the Brain Story metaphor compares how children manage mental processes to how an air traffic controller manages aeroplanes in an airport.

Every day, we manage various demands on our attention, from paying attention and controlling impulses, to managing emotions and prioritising tasks (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

With practice and the right support, children learn to organise and control the tasks in their mental headspace, like an air traffic controller organises and lands aeroplanes in a busy airport (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Executive functioning skills

The air traffic control system in a child's brain is also known as 'executive function': the system that manages social and cognitive skills. Children depend on these emerging executive function skills as they learn to read and write, develop arithmetic skills and interact with peers (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Although executive function skills can be improved at any time during and after childhood, negative experiences such as trauma and abuse, can hinder the brain's cognitive development (Diamond, 2013). This can weaken the child's air traffic control system and may lead to:

reduced impulse control

weakened working memory and attention skills

disruptive behaviour

(Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Just as an air traffic controller can learn to manage arriving and departing flights, children can learn to manage their mental processes through practice and support.

Building executive function skills

Executive function skills develop throughout childhood, adolescence and into adulthood (Shonkoff et al, 2011). It's important to give children opportunities to develop these skills through experiences appropriate to their age and ability.

You can help children learn air traffic control skills in various ways.

Set a good example through your own actions: children can see adults performing tasks and model themselves on the adult's behaviour. This is called observational learning (Crowley, 2017).

Engage in playful serve and return interactions: social play is important to the development of executive function skills (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Talk to children about the 'planes' flying around their mind. Discuss how a trusted adult could help them land or look after some of these planes if they are feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

Help children foster decision making and cognitive skills within playful situations appropriate to their age and ability: encourage the child to make choices and 'direct their own activities with decreasing adult supervision over time' (Shonkoff et al, 2011, p.6).

> Take our training course to gain knowledge of building strong executive function skills and air traffic control systems > Explore how you can use the air traffic control metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Toxic stress: the effects of stress on child development

Everyone experiences stress, and learning how to cope with stresses is an important part of child brain development (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Some stress can be 'positive', such as solving problems or preparing for an exam. With adult or peer support, these experiences can help children develop coping and concentration skills that will help in later life.

Other stresses can be 'tolerable'. For example, children are usually able to cope with bereavement if they have the right 'buffers' or support from parents, carers, friends and family.

But if children are exposed to prolonged or repeated traumatic experiences, such as child abuse and neglect, this can cause 'toxic' or 'harmful' stress, where they start to feel more stressed more often and for longer periods. This can disrupt the building of healthy brain architecture (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

This can affect children's physical and cognitive development, including:

a weakened immune system

problems with memory and learning

a reduced ability to control one's moods or emotions

slower information processing

(Crowley, 2017; Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Reducing toxic or harmful stress

The effects of harmful stress on a child's brain and body can be reduced with long-term, consistent help and support (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

The parts of the brain responsible for dealing with stress are particularly malleable during early childhood. Childhood outcomes can be improved through positive changes, such as:

community-based interventions

increased adult-child interaction

supportive relationships.

(Franke, 2014; Shonkoff et al, 2014).

You can help reduce harmful stress in various ways.

Soothe and care for children when they are distressed - this helps their brains develop healthier ways to manage stress (Crowley, 2017).

Interact with young children through serve and return, for example by listening and responding to their concerns. This helps build brain architecture and stress management systems (Center on the Developing Child, 2013).

Help 'buffer' the effects of tolerable stresses by offering safe, reliable and responsive support to children and young people.

Help parents and carers reduce the level of stress their child is exposed to, by giving them support to manage any challenges their family is experiencing.

> Take our face-to-face training where you'll find out more about toxic stress and how it can be reduced > Read more about how you can use the stress metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Overloaded

Overloaded: the effects of parental stress on children

This Sharing the Brain Story metaphor compares the process of lorries carrying large loads to parents and carers being overloaded with challenges.

When a lorry carries too much weight, it can be overloaded to the point of breaking down. When parents are experiencing challenges like poverty or lack of support, the weight of these problems can overload their mental and emotional capacity to take care of their children's needs.

Challenges are often out of a parent or carer's control, such as:

violence or feeling unsafe in the community

financial insecurity

lack of community support

losing a job

a relationship ending.

Just as we can lighten an overloaded lorry's load by bringing in other lorries or moving some things by train, we can lighten parents' and carers' loads by providing them with appropriate support. This can help improve their capacity to care for their children (Kendall-Taylor and Stanley, 2018).
> Find out more about early help for families and children
Recognising when parents need help

Some overloaded parents may be reluctant to ask for help for a number of reasons. For example, they might be worried their child will be removed from their care (National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage, 2019).

This means that it's important for professionals to recognise the load that parents and carers might be carrying, provide appropriate support and work with families to reduce unnecessary weight and strain.

There are various ways that you can do this.

Start talking to parents and carers about what support they need as soon as problems are identified.

Take time to understand a parent or carer's position. Sometimes services designed to help might be overwhelming for already overloaded parents.

Encourage parents and carers to seek out support from their community and family members or guide them to support directly. Interventions which strengthen community resources can help manage children's toxic stress response (Franke, 2014).

> Learn about the science behind the effects of stress and how you can tackle parental overloading by taking our training
> See a breakdown of how you can use the overloaded metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Tipping the scales

Tipping the scales: outweighing adverse childhood experiences

The final Sharing the Brain Story metaphor uses the concept of scales to explain how to achieve long-term positive brain building environments.

Child brain development is like a set of scales. On one side of the scales there are positive experiences and on the other, negative experiences.

Over time, if the positive experiences outweigh negative ones, the scales tip towards more positive long-term outcomes for the child. We want to help all children's scales tip towards the positive.

All parents, carers, family, friends or those who work with children can help tip the scales positively.

(Shonkoff et al, 2015).

Tipping the scales towards positive outcomes

By using each of the six metaphors, separately and together, you can help parents, carers and communities understand how to build a healthy environment in which children's brains can develop.

This is particularly important between the ages of 0 to 5 and during adolescence. Due to the speed of growth, children's brains are at their most adaptable during these 'sensitive' periods of development - so it's beneficial to stack children and young people's scales with as much support as possible to help build their resilience.

(Shonkoff et al, 2015).

By sharing the brain story through these six metaphors, all the adults around a child can learn how to help create positive brain building environments and experiences. These include:

building strong brain architecture through serve and return interactions

helping children to develop their air traffic control skills

helping parents and carers avoid becoming overloaded and support them in maintaining a stable, low-stress environment within a framework of supportive and committed adult-child relationships.

> For more information on all our metaphors and advice for helping healthy child brain development, take our face-to-face training > Learn more about how you can use the tipping the scales metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

References and resources

References

Center on the Developing Child (2013) Innovating in early head start: can reducing toxic stress improve outcomes for young children? [Accessed 16/03/2021].

Crowley, Kevin (2017) Child development: a practical introduction. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Diamond, A (2013) Executive functions Annual Review of Psychology, 64: 135-168.

Franke H.A (2014) Toxic stress: effects, prevention and treatment. Children, 1(3): 390-402.

Kendall-Taylor, N and Stanley, K (2018) Seeing context through metaphor: using communications research to bring a social determinants perspective to public thinking about child abuse and neglect. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1): 8-14.

National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage (2019) Breaking down the barriers (PDF). [s.l.]: National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage.

Siegel, D. J. and Bryson, T. P. (2012) The whole-brain child 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child's developing mind, survive everyday parenting struggles, and help your family thrive. London: Robinson.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2004) Young children develop in an environment of relationships (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2008) The timing and quality of early experiences combine to shape brain architecture: working paper 5 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P., Boyce, W.T. and McEwen, B.S. (2009) Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities: building a new framework for health promotion and disease prevention, Journal of the American Medical Association, 301 (21), 2252-2259.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2011) Building the brain's "air traffic control" system: how early experiences shape the development of executive function: working paper 11 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2014), Excessive stress disrupts the architecture of the developing brain: working paper 3 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2015) Supportive relationships and active skill-building strengthen the foundations of resilience: working paper 13 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2018) Understanding motivation: building the brain architecture that supports learning, health, and community participation: working paper 14 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Childline

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice, direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about dealing with stress on the Childline website. You can also download or order Childline posters and wallet cards.

Training
Trauma and child brain development training
Further reading

For further reading about child brain development, search the NSPCC library catalogue using the keyword "brain" and "child development".
> Find out more about the Library and Information Service

Introduction

How do childhood experiences affect brain development?

Our brains develop from before birth and into adulthood (Siegel and Bryson, 2012). But there are key 'sensitive periods' during early childhood and adolescence where children and young people's brains are more affected by positive or negative experiences (Shonkoff et al, 2008).

What happens in a child or young person's life during these periods can have a significant effect on their brain development.

Positive experiences throughout childhood help to build healthy brains, while experiencing childhood trauma and abuse can harm a child's brain development (Shonkoff et al, 2015).

But our brains always have the potential to change and grow. It's never too late to give a child or young person positive brain building experiences.

Having caring relationships and access to support services can reduce the harmful effects of negative experiences and help a child's brain develop in a healthy way (Shonkoff et al, 2015).
> Find out why the bond between a child and their caregivers is important > Find out more about the adolescent brain in our How safe are our children? report for 2020
How we use metaphors to explain brain development

We want to create a shared and simple language around child brain development that can be used by all professionals, parents, carers and children.

Sharing the Brain Story uses six key metaphors, developed by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative and the FrameWorks Institute.

These metaphors can be used to improve understanding of child development and give positive brain building experiences to children who have experienced trauma.

On this page you'll find information about each of the six metaphors and tips on how to use them in your work with children and families. We also have a summary booklet you can download to learn more about each of the metaphors and access further reading.

Download the booklet (PDF)

Trauma and child brain development training

Sign up for our face-to-face training programme delivered by experts where we explore child brain development and the six metaphors through practical exercises, case studies, examples and more.

Brain architecture

Brain architecture: how children's brains develop

The first Sharing the Brain Story metaphor describes how the development of children's brains is like the development and construction of a house.

Early experiences build the foundations of our brains. Like a house is built step-by-step - first laying the foundations, then creating the rooms and wiring the electrical system - our brains are built in a similar way.

As good quality materials help build a strong house, positive experiences during childhood help build healthy brains.

Although it's never too late for the brain to benefit from positive experiences, early experiences build the foundations of brain architecture. A strong brain foundation increases the chances of healthy learning later in life (Shonkoff et al, 2007).

Negative experiences such as abuse and neglect can affect the brain's architecture by increasing stress-related disorders including:

mental health problems

drug abuse

diabetes and cardiovascular disease

(Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Building brain architecture

Like improving or rebuilding the architecture of a house - refurbishing rooms, strengthening foundations - the brain can also be improved and rebuilt following childhood trauma through an active process of maintenance and care from supportive, trusted adults.

Brain architecture can be built throughout childhood, adolescence and even into adulthood (Shonkoff et al, 2008).

The remaining five metaphors - serve and return, air traffic control, toxic stress, overloaded, tipping the scales - will help you give parents and carers the tools to build strong brain architecture in children and young people.
> Register for our face-to-face training to better understand how to foster healthy brain development in children > Read more about how you can use the brain architecture metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Serve and return

Serve and return: the importance of interaction

The serve and return metaphor from Sharing the Brain Story looks at adult-child relationships by comparing interactions between a child and adult to rallies in a tennis match.

From the ages of 0 to 5, children naturally start interacting with adults through babbling, gesturing and facial expressions. This develops vital language, cognitive and social skills.

Interactions between a child and an adult is like playing a game of tennis. When adults 'return' the child's 'serve' with a positive response, a 'rally' is created.

Just as good rallies between tennis players develop their athletic abilities, good rallies between children and adults strengthen children's developing brain architecture, improve their cognitive skills and develop resilience (Shonkoff et al, 2004; Shonkoff et al, 2015).

When adults do not respond to a child's serve or if children spend a long time on passive activity - such as watching TV - this can break the rally and interrupt development. For example, children learn language, more effectively face-to-face with a teacher or caregiver than by watching TV or a video (Shonkoff et al, 2018).

Improving interaction with children

Sensitive and responsive adult-child relationships help build children's cognitive skills and brain architecture. Research shows a clear link between social and emotional development and intellectual growth (Shonkoff, Boyce and McEwen, 2009).
> Discover how sensitive, responsive parenting can help to build bonds between children and their caregivers > Sign up for free brain-building tips with Look, Say, Sing, Play > Download our free Look, Say, Sing, Play resources
To increase serve and return interactions, you can:

focus on interactive, face-to-face activity, such as talking, singing and playing

respond to and build on physical and verbal cues: if they babble, babble back; if they play with toys, play with them

allow the child to 'serve' - follow their focus and return their serve with support and encouragement

maintain eye contact when interacting with the child - this helps to build a nurturing, secure relationship

positively reinforce children's vocalisations: children repeat behaviours when they are praised, which helps shape their babbles into words (Crowley, 2017).

> Learn how to build strong brain architecture through serve and return interactions in our face-to-face training > Get more information on how you can use the serve and return metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Air traffic control

Air traffic control: managing and ordering tasks

This Sharing the Brain Story metaphor compares how children manage mental processes to how an air traffic controller manages aeroplanes in an airport.

Every day, we manage various demands on our attention, from paying attention and controlling impulses, to managing emotions and prioritising tasks (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

With practice and the right support, children learn to organise and control the tasks in their mental headspace, like an air traffic controller organises and lands aeroplanes in a busy airport (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Executive functioning skills

The air traffic control system in a child's brain is also known as 'executive function': the system that manages social and cognitive skills. Children depend on these emerging executive function skills as they learn to read and write, develop arithmetic skills and interact with peers (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Although executive function skills can be improved at any time during and after childhood, negative experiences such as trauma and abuse, can hinder the brain's cognitive development (Diamond, 2013). This can weaken the child's air traffic control system and may lead to:

reduced impulse control

weakened working memory and attention skills

disruptive behaviour

(Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Just as an air traffic controller can learn to manage arriving and departing flights, children can learn to manage their mental processes through practice and support.

Building executive function skills

Executive function skills develop throughout childhood, adolescence and into adulthood (Shonkoff et al, 2011). It's important to give children opportunities to develop these skills through experiences appropriate to their age and ability.

You can help children learn air traffic control skills in various ways.

Set a good example through your own actions: children can see adults performing tasks and model themselves on the adult's behaviour. This is called observational learning (Crowley, 2017).

Engage in playful serve and return interactions: social play is important to the development of executive function skills (Shonkoff et al, 2011).

Talk to children about the 'planes' flying around their mind. Discuss how a trusted adult could help them land or look after some of these planes if they are feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

Help children foster decision making and cognitive skills within playful situations appropriate to their age and ability: encourage the child to make choices and 'direct their own activities with decreasing adult supervision over time' (Shonkoff et al, 2011, p.6).

> Take our training course to gain knowledge of building strong executive function skills and air traffic control systems > Explore how you can use the air traffic control metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Toxic stress: the effects of stress on child development

Everyone experiences stress, and learning how to cope with stresses is an important part of child brain development (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Some stress can be 'positive', such as solving problems or preparing for an exam. With adult or peer support, these experiences can help children develop coping and concentration skills that will help in later life.

Other stresses can be 'tolerable'. For example, children are usually able to cope with bereavement if they have the right 'buffers' or support from parents, carers, friends and family.

But if children are exposed to prolonged or repeated traumatic experiences, such as child abuse and neglect, this can cause 'toxic' or 'harmful' stress, where they start to feel more stressed more often and for longer periods. This can disrupt the building of healthy brain architecture (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

This can affect children's physical and cognitive development, including:

a weakened immune system

problems with memory and learning

a reduced ability to control one's moods or emotions

slower information processing

(Crowley, 2017; Shonkoff et al, 2014).

Reducing toxic or harmful stress

The effects of harmful stress on a child's brain and body can be reduced with long-term, consistent help and support (Shonkoff et al, 2014).

The parts of the brain responsible for dealing with stress are particularly malleable during early childhood. Childhood outcomes can be improved through positive changes, such as:

community-based interventions

increased adult-child interaction

supportive relationships.

(Franke, 2014; Shonkoff et al, 2014).

You can help reduce harmful stress in various ways.

Soothe and care for children when they are distressed - this helps their brains develop healthier ways to manage stress (Crowley, 2017).

Interact with young children through serve and return, for example by listening and responding to their concerns. This helps build brain architecture and stress management systems (Center on the Developing Child, 2013).

Help 'buffer' the effects of tolerable stresses by offering safe, reliable and responsive support to children and young people.

Help parents and carers reduce the level of stress their child is exposed to, by giving them support to manage any challenges their family is experiencing.

> Take our face-to-face training where you'll find out more about toxic stress and how it can be reduced > Read more about how you can use the stress metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Overloaded

Overloaded: the effects of parental stress on children

This Sharing the Brain Story metaphor compares the process of lorries carrying large loads to parents and carers being overloaded with challenges.

When a lorry carries too much weight, it can be overloaded to the point of breaking down. When parents are experiencing challenges like poverty or lack of support, the weight of these problems can overload their mental and emotional capacity to take care of their children's needs.

Challenges are often out of a parent or carer's control, such as:

violence or feeling unsafe in the community

financial insecurity

lack of community support

losing a job

a relationship ending.

Just as we can lighten an overloaded lorry's load by bringing in other lorries or moving some things by train, we can lighten parents' and carers' loads by providing them with appropriate support. This can help improve their capacity to care for their children (Kendall-Taylor and Stanley, 2018).
> Find out more about early help for families and children
Recognising when parents need help

Some overloaded parents may be reluctant to ask for help for a number of reasons. For example, they might be worried their child will be removed from their care (National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage, 2019).

This means that it's important for professionals to recognise the load that parents and carers might be carrying, provide appropriate support and work with families to reduce unnecessary weight and strain.

There are various ways that you can do this.

Start talking to parents and carers about what support they need as soon as problems are identified.

Take time to understand a parent or carer's position. Sometimes services designed to help might be overwhelming for already overloaded parents.

Encourage parents and carers to seek out support from their community and family members or guide them to support directly. Interventions which strengthen community resources can help manage children's toxic stress response (Franke, 2014).

> Learn about the science behind the effects of stress and how you can tackle parental overloading by taking our training
> See a breakdown of how you can use the overloaded metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

Tipping the scales

Tipping the scales: outweighing adverse childhood experiences

The final Sharing the Brain Story metaphor uses the concept of scales to explain how to achieve long-term positive brain building environments.

Child brain development is like a set of scales. On one side of the scales there are positive experiences and on the other, negative experiences.

Over time, if the positive experiences outweigh negative ones, the scales tip towards more positive long-term outcomes for the child. We want to help all children's scales tip towards the positive.

All parents, carers, family, friends or those who work with children can help tip the scales positively.

(Shonkoff et al, 2015).

Tipping the scales towards positive outcomes

By using each of the six metaphors, separately and together, you can help parents, carers and communities understand how to build a healthy environment in which children's brains can develop.

This is particularly important between the ages of 0 to 5 and during adolescence. Due to the speed of growth, children's brains are at their most adaptable during these 'sensitive' periods of development - so it's beneficial to stack children and young people's scales with as much support as possible to help build their resilience.

(Shonkoff et al, 2015).

By sharing the brain story through these six metaphors, all the adults around a child can learn how to help create positive brain building environments and experiences. These include:

building strong brain architecture through serve and return interactions

helping children to develop their air traffic control skills

helping parents and carers avoid becoming overloaded and support them in maintaining a stable, low-stress environment within a framework of supportive and committed adult-child relationships.

> For more information on all our metaphors and advice for helping healthy child brain development, take our face-to-face training > Learn more about how you can use the tipping the scales metaphor in our Sharing the Brain Story booklet (PDF)

References and resources

References

Center on the Developing Child (2013) Innovating in early head start: can reducing toxic stress improve outcomes for young children? [Accessed 16/03/2021].

Crowley, Kevin (2017) Child development: a practical introduction. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Diamond, A (2013) Executive functions Annual Review of Psychology, 64: 135-168.

Franke H.A (2014) Toxic stress: effects, prevention and treatment. Children, 1(3): 390-402.

Kendall-Taylor, N and Stanley, K (2018) Seeing context through metaphor: using communications research to bring a social determinants perspective to public thinking about child abuse and neglect. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1): 8-14.

National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage (2019) Breaking down the barriers (PDF). [s.l.]: National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage.

Siegel, D. J. and Bryson, T. P. (2012) The whole-brain child 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child's developing mind, survive everyday parenting struggles, and help your family thrive. London: Robinson.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2004) Young children develop in an environment of relationships (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2008) The timing and quality of early experiences combine to shape brain architecture: working paper 5 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P., Boyce, W.T. and McEwen, B.S. (2009) Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities: building a new framework for health promotion and disease prevention, Journal of the American Medical Association, 301 (21), 2252-2259.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2011) Building the brain's "air traffic control" system: how early experiences shape the development of executive function: working paper 11 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2014), Excessive stress disrupts the architecture of the developing brain: working paper 3 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2015) Supportive relationships and active skill-building strengthen the foundations of resilience: working paper 13 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Shonkoff, J.P. et al (2018) Understanding motivation: building the brain architecture that supports learning, health, and community participation: working paper 14 (PDF). Cambridge: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Childline

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice, direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about dealing with stress on the Childline website. You can also download or order Childline posters and wallet cards.

Training
Trauma and child brain development training
Further reading

For further reading about child brain development, search the NSPCC library catalogue using the keyword "brain" and "child development".
> Find out more about the Library and Information Service

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Understanding child brain development | NSPCC Learning

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How does trauma impact on child brain development? How does this affect children in later life? And how can we help children overcome adverse experiences? Sharing the Science uses a trauma-informed approach to explain this and more.