Ask the children: youth views about parenting, parental freedom, and child safety. A survey study of youth in Finland, Ireland, Norway, and USA

This exploratory study examines youth (ages 15–17) attitudes about child protection. The study includes data from youth in four countries (Finland, Ireland, Norway, and the U.S.) (n = 2,010) to offer an international comparative perspective. The study also compares youth attitudes to adult attitudes in Norway and the U.S. Findings suggest that youth generally favour restricting parenting practices when an infant is experiencing risk and that views about unrestricted parenting are especially negative when risk to an infant rises. Youth had mixed views about whether it was appropriate to separate an infant from a parent and their views were more favourable under conditions of increased risk. In general, findings from the youth were similar to findings from adults. The study has implications for the design of child protective policies based on the views of the social actors ultimately affected by state-protective actions.