The brothers Grimm knew that it sometimes takes a child to call out what grown-ups think but dare not say. Whether it is that the emperor wears no clothes or that our parliamentarians show little compassion, you can count on children to speak the truth.
Does it take a 17-year-old to point out that we shouldn’t be focusing on assisted dying but on assisted living?
Take the latest report from the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza. Asked about the Assisted Suicide Bill, which reaches report stage this week, the teenage respondents’ approach is thoughtful and compassionate. In stark contrast to the shallow and weaselly debate that supporters of the Bill have engaged in, here are 15- and 16-year-olds who address the ethical dilemma head-on, pointing out that the legislation risks making ‘some lives more valuable than others’. They ask, ‘is life with a disability not worth living?’ All share an understanding of the potential for coercion and discrimination inherent in the Bill in its current formulation: ‘What if’, asks one 16-year-old girl, ‘it ends up removing people from society that people don’t want in society?’
Some of the respondents are disabled themselves, while others have family members who are approaching their end of life. They have first-hand experience of the care system and understand how its failures are driving many vulnerable individuals, including young people, to be tempted to end it all.
‘Mercy killing’ sounds less barbaric than being at the mercy of a system that allows for squalid ‘care’ homes staffed by over-worked, under-paid, and all too often jaded ‘carers’. Does it take a 17-year-old to point out that we shouldn’t be focusing on assisted dying but on assisted living? That we shouldn’t concentrate on how to reduce the number of vulnerable citizens in need of health and social care but rather fix our NHS and social care systems?
Baroness Casey has warned the government bluntly that her commission will be deliberating for years about improving social care: by then, how many youngsters will have felt compelled, if not coerced, to opt for assisted dying if this Bill is passed?
On one issue the report’s contributors remain silent, however: it is the young who risk being subject to particular pressure to end their own lives. Social media already pumps out content that encourages young people to commit suicide. There are images and videos that share tips on how to kill yourself and online challenges to participate in games that can result in suicide.
When the Samaritans conducted a survey among young people regarding the impact that seeing content depicting suicide and/or self-harm was having on their lives, 77 per cent admitted to self-harming in the same or similar ways as the videos they had watched. As Sophie Winkleman, campaigner for a social media ban for under 16s, warns:
There is a domino ignition effect with suicide content and material. Most teens go through troubled and anxious phases. The prospect of a ‘way out’ of a bullying spell, a patch of social angst, even a panic about exams – would be an alluring one to all but the most robust of adolescents.
As it stands, the assisted dying Bill would allow young people from 18 onwards to seek assistance in suicide. Given the sinister promotional material they already access – even involuntarily – the Bill will compound the pressure on teenagers struggling with any mental or physical health issues.
The least we can do, de Souza says, is to give children and young people a voice in the ongoing debate:
The quality of their reflections on the implications of this Bill have been more impressive than I have heard in the parliamentary debate so far… We must listen and reflect on what our young people think to ensure that policy and laws don’t overlook the perspective of those they will ultimately impact. If we don’t include them, we risk being entirely out of step with the wishes of the next generation.
Jess Asato MP, a vocal opponent of the Bill, has been urging MPs to read the contribution of these young people to the debate on assisted dying ahead of its report stage next week. She is right – they should.
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