Rhian Howells, Education and Engagement Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales
“Are the police allowed to rough you up?”
“It’s fine if you’re carrying a knife for self-defence.”
“The shop on my road still sells disposable vapes.”
“Wait! What? The police can actually strip-search a child?!”
These are just some of the questions and comments we hear from young people, as part of the legal education sessions we deliver in schools and youth clubs across Wales.
They might sound surprising, but they highlight a much bigger issue: many children simply don’t understand the laws that affect their everyday lives, or how to access legal representation.
We already know from research that there is a significant gap in legal knowledge among children and young people. In Wales, children can be held criminally responsible for their actions from the age of 10 — one of the lowest ages in Europe. Yet many children are unaware that this is the case, and many don’t understand their legal rights.
This lack of legal knowledge can have serious consequences. Children may unknowingly put themselves at risk, misunderstand their rights when dealing with the police, or make decisions based on misinformation shared by friends or on social media.
During one of our Year 7 sessions, a pupil was visibly shocked to learn that children as young as eight may be strip-searched by the police, exclaiming, “You can have naked body checks?” Their reaction reflected something we encounter regularly: many children simply do not know what powers the police have or what rights they have if those powers are used. The reality is that a child is strip-searched by the police roughly every 14 hours in England and Wales, and thousands of children have been strip-searched in recent years. A child who does not understand their rights cannot question what is happening, recognise when safeguards are not being followed, or ask for legal advice and representation when they need it most.
This isn’t only what we see anecdotally. Children’s Legal Centre Wales carried out a survey of 143 young people aged 11–17 in 2026, and found that 28 young people had already experienced a problem where legal advice could have helped. Common issues included trouble in school, online problems, contact with the police, mental health issues, family relationship difficulties, and abuse or neglect.
During a youth club session, a thirteen-year-old girl told me about a time she had been involved in an altercation with another girl, and the police turned up at her house to speak to her about the incident. When I asked her if she had signed anything in relation to the incident, she said she had. She had no idea what it was she’d signed, or what impact this could have on her criminal record, and she did this without any legal advice or legal representation.
During a school session exploring the laws around knife crime, many of the pupils talked about various items they had seen on social media, including small knives concealed in pens or hairbrushes. These products were aimed at young people and branded as self-defence items. Many of the pupils believed that if you were carrying an item for self-defence, then this would be considered legal and wouldn’t have any repercussions. This was a clear misconception that we encountered in many of our outreach sessions.
One issue that comes up time and again in our outreach work is school exclusion. Many young people describe spending much of their school day in ‘isolation’, or being routinely kept out of class. Few young people realise that, in some cases, these arrangements may be unlawful. Without knowledge of their rights, young people are left unable to question decisions that affect their education and future opportunities, or even realise that a lawyer could help them make a complaint.
Take the vape comment from the start of this piece. Since 1 June 2025, it has been illegal across Wales, and the rest of the UK, for shops to sell disposable vapes. In this case, this young person did understand the law had changed, but expressed frustration that the shop vendor was not adhering to the law, and wondered how they could be held to account.
That’s why children need lawyers
Not just lawyers who can represent them in legal proceedings, but lawyers who understand children.
Children and young people are not simply “small adults”. Their brains are still developing, particularly the frontal lobe, which plays an important role in decision-making, risk assessment and impulse control. Understanding this developmental stage is essential when advising and representing young people.
Children also have different communication needs. Some may be neurodivergent or have additional learning needs and require information to be explained in different ways, or additional support to ensure they understand what is happening.
Many children also have experience of trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which can have a profound and lasting impact on how they respond to stressful situations, authority figures and the legal process itself. Lawyers working with children need to recognise these experiences and adopt a trauma-informed approach.
At Children’s Legal Centre Wales, we believe every child deserves legal support that recognises their rights, their experiences and their stage of development.
Evidence from our recent survey shows that young people actively want legal education, practical rights information and direct access to support. Children are not disengaged from the law; rather, they need legal information delivered in accessible, child-friendly ways. Investing in specialist children’s lawyers, legal education in schools and trauma-informed legal services will help create a fairer justice system and ensure that children can understand, exercise and protect their rights.
That’s why we’re calling for:
- Clear, accessible legal education so that every child understands their rights.
- Lawyers who are trained to understand children’s development, communication needs and lived experiences.
Through our legal education programme, we’re already working to close this gap, delivering sessions like these in schools and youth clubs across Wales. If you’d like to bring a session to your school or youth club, or get involved in our work, please get in touch.
When children understand the law, and when the professionals supporting them understand children, we create a fairer justice system for everyone.