Children were at one time regarded as unreliable witnesses, and by many still are.  However, they may be the only witnesses to situations under investigation and their information may be vital.  With a careful approach and correct interviewing techniques children can provide good quality evidence.

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Evidence from children can present challenges but it is equally true that interviewers and those handling evidence from children may create problems themselves. 

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It's always best that children be interviewed soon after the event.  The younger they are the more important this is.  Children have good memories, but due to limited vocabularies, or a lack of motivation, their brevity or lack of detail in their answers may be misconstrued as a poor or unreliable memory. 
 

The more time that passes, the greater the potential for a child's evidence to be influenced by others, whether by suggestion from something that's said, or the child's perception of what they are expected to say or how they think they should respond.  It's always critically important that the people around child witnesses, whether parents, teachers, or  others, DO NOT put suggestions to the child in the questions they ask, or even in the way they respond to disclosures or situations of concern. 

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If children are to be involved in enquiries, the following observations and guidelines may be helpful.

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