Children's experiences of Hearings

Hannah is six. She missed a lot of school because she had to look after her mum who was sick and her little sister. Hannah’s teacher was worried about her and told the Children’s Reporter.

The Reporter thought Hannah and her sister needed to be looked after properly and that Hannah shouldn’t be missing school. She decided they should go to a Children’s Hearing to get help.

Hannah and her sister went to the Hearing with their mum and their grandma came along too. Hannah’s teacher and a social worker were there too.

Hannah said: “The people at the Hearing were really nice. They were worried about us. They thought a grown up should be doing this stuff for us. They wanted to help make sure that we were looked after properly.”

The Panel Members at the Hearing decided that Hannah and her sister should both go and stay with their grandma for a while to give their mum time to get better. They still got to see their mum at weekends. A few months later, their mum was better and they moved back home. Hannah is much happier now and is going to school every day.

Jimmy is eleven and loves playing football, but he has started to misbehave. He has been shouting a lot at his mum and dad, and taking money out of his mum’s purse without asking.

One night when he was out playing with friends he threw stones at a house where an old man lives and broke two of his windows. A neighbour who saw the windows being smashed, called the police and they came and took Jimmy home to his parents.

The police told the Children’s Reporter about it and they sent Jimmy a letter asking him to go to a Hearing. Jimmy went to the Hearing with his mum and dad and said that he had thrown stones at the old man's house. The Panel Members asked Jimmy why he had been behaving so badly, he said it was because he was bored and had nothing to do.

Jimmy told the Panel Members that he had said sorry to the old man for breaking his windows and he felt really bad that he had scared him. Jimmy’s mum and dad said he was no longer misbehaving and he was doing much better at school and had joined a local football team.

The Panel Members decided that Jimmy did not need to come back to another Hearing because he was now behaving better and not getting into any more trouble with the police.