"In this commentary, we reflect on ethical considerations when conducting research with children’ in sensitive subject areas, especially in digital environments. Using a child rights centered approach, we argue that we need to use a more holistic approach to ethics that respects different rights of children. When weighing security and safety risks of examining online communication among children, ethical tensions arise between the right to protection and the right to participation. This tension can be addressed by considering ethical criteria throughout the whole research project. We claim that this also might entail a paradigm shift: research ethics should be developed in interdisciplinary teams, and also with children. The goal of child-centered research ethics is to respect children’s interests and rights by designing appropriate research methods and processes that engage the autonomy of children while increasing the validity of research results and conclusions."
Ingrid Stapf, Cora Biess, Jan Pfetsch & Felix Paschel (2023) Respecting children`s rights in research ethics and research methods, Journal of Children and Media, 17:3, 393-399, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2023.2235815