Busting Myths About Children’s Capacity to Meaningfully Participate

The useful part

Slaw September 18 th 2026 1 Comment Share Email Twitter Google+ Facebook LinkedIn Posted in: Dispute Resolution Justice Issues Column Busting Myths About Children's Capacity to Meaningfully Participate by Kari D. The papers examine capacity generally and in four specific contexts: health care, mental health, family law, and child welfare and adoption.

How it works

• This is an oversimplification of both the law and the social science research.[3] There is no magical birthday on which a child suddenly acquires capacity.
• The research supports a presumption that children have capacity to express their views and preferences.
• ", the family law report suggests asking: " How can we support this child to uphold their right to participate?
• Children need information about their participation rights, appropriate choices about whether and how to participate, and supports that allow them to communicate in ways that work for them.
• For lawyers, judges, mediators, parenting coordinators, health professionals, social workers, parents and others who make decisions affecting children, it invites us to examine our own assumptions,...

What to take from it

A determination about what is best for a child should be informed by the child, not used as a reason to silence them. Parents may be in court precisely because they disagree about what is best for their child. The question is no longer "Is this child capable of participating?" It is "What are we doing to make their participation possible?" The SCYBC reports are well worth reading.

Example or evidence

• _ Notes [1] The research was funded by the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth of BC (RCYBC).
• As the research notes, meaningful expression may include non-verbal forms of communication such as play, body language, facial expressions, drawing and painting.
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• The research paints a much more nuanced and multidimensional picture.

Details worth keeping

Busting Myths about Children's Capacity to Meaningfully Participate. Capacity has often been assessed primarily through the lens of cognitive ability. The SCYBC reports challenge both assumptions.

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