To think that children's wishes need to be listened to

[Notcontent]

The more I have read about the Ellie Butler case, the more outraged I am about what was allowed to happen.

But there is one aspect that has really struck me. Apparently the little girl made it very clear that she didn't want to be separated from her grandparents, that she was scared of her father, etc. She was terrified of being taken away and she even started bed wetting. To me, this is incredibly upsetting.

I know that sometimes children don't want to do something and we coax or "force" them into it for their own good, but ultimately children are not possessions and we do need to listen to them.

[MumOnTheRunCatchingUp]

british courts do....from around age 11

[ghostyslovesheep]

h at all - but sadly the law acts on the evidence in front of it - I guess the appeal evidence and evidence for subsequent bid to over turn the care order was strong enough to quash the conviction and make her go home

It's horribly sad - I heard her grandfather interviewed today on R5 - it was heartbreaking

We should consider the feelings of children but the courts don't much

[OurBlanche]

Ah, but he was good, he was very, very good. He had so very many people fooled. He fought a good fight, plucked all the right heart strings. He was such a tragically maligned man who just wanted to be a good dad.

No system is 100% proof against sustained, plausible, supported by medical evidence (as he was, sadly), flat out self aggrandising liars.

[ghostyslovesheep]

YANB that should say no H at all!

[fuzzywuzzy]

They courts take the wishes of children over 10 into consideration but they don't actually give it much emphasis.

[Notcontent]

I guess what I am saying is that perhaps there needs to be greater consideration of what children want and think, from a younger age. Just to use an example, most of us make our children go to school even if our child doesn't seem keen. However, if our child started getting hysterical at the school gates every day, we would probably think again about forcing them to.