My corona: listening to children in corona times

ABSTRACT Created with twelve Members of Children’s Parliament aged 8–14 across Scotland, The Corona Times Journal was established in March 2020 as Scotland entered a national lockdown in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The children were supported to reflect on their experiences of the pandemic in response to themed journal prompts around life at home, health and wellbeing, education and learning, news and information, and the return to schooling. The children’s views captured in The Corona Times Journal significantly informed the Independent Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) carried out by the Observatory for Children's Human Rights on behalf of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland on the impact of COVID-19 measures on children’s human rights. This article brings three of the Corona Times journalists together with academics involved in carrying out the Independent CRIA to reflect on the children’s experiences of contributing to The Corona Times Journal and, in turn, playing a key role in informing the development of the Independent CRIA and national decision-making processes. It explores the importance of children’s participation in decision-making during times of crisis when human rights are at most risk of being compromised.