Every June, Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) holds a pan-European campaign on
behalfofchildrenwithimprisonedparentsentitled,“Notmycrime,stillmysentence”1.
Promoting UNCRC Article 12, one of the main goals of the 2017 campaign is to give
children a space to communicate their views to prison directors in order to
improvetheprisonvisitingexperience.
Fostering child participation empowers children to become competent partners in
societyasbothchildrenandasfutureadults.Giving them a platform to voice their
opinionsabouttheirexperiencesvisitingprisonandtohavethoseopinionsheardcan
improvetheirrelationshipwiththeirparentsinprison,aswellasboosttheirwellbeing,self-esteemanddevelopment.
To gather the children’s views, COPE members (in the Netherlands, Poland, Scotland,
England & Wales, Italy, France and Sweden) held workshops and discussion groups
withchildrentotalkaboutprisonvisits.Somechildrenfilledouttheexpressioncards
duringorafteravisit.Questionsincluded,“Whatdoyoulikeaboutprisonvisits?”,“How
do you feel when you visit your parent in prison?” and “What would make visiting
betterforyou?”.
Theaimwastomoveawayfromthenegativelanguageoftenusedintalkingaboutthe
issuesrelatingtotheprisonvisitingenvironmentforchildren.Byfocusingonpositive
experiences and progressive solutions, the COPE campaign aims to credit good
practice initiatives and to focus on solutions co-constructed by prison directors,
1
http://childrenofprisoners.eu/campaign/
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staff and children. Children all have different experiences of prison visits. Yet there
areoverlapsinexperiencesthatspanacrossEurope.
Citing long journeys to and from the prison, as well as time wasted waiting in
queues for security, many children interviewed wished for more time with their
parentandto be able to physically interact with them.Insomecontexts,prisoner
parents are not allowed to leave their chair, nor touch or hold their children.
Physical contact, privacy, clear information, a calm atmosphere and shared
activitiescanhelpchildrenfeelatmoreateasewhenvisitingtheirparentinprison.
Nowthatthecardshavebeenfilledoutbythechildren,theyarebeingdeliveredtothe
prisondirectorstobetterinformtheprisonswhattheyaredoingwell,andthingsthat
theycanimproveupontocontinuetoimprovethechildren’sprisonvisits.
Wehopethatthechildren’sopinionscanprovideinsightintothepositivechangesthat
needtobemadetoimprovetheirexperienceswhentheyvisittheirparentinprison.By
usingchildren’sexperiencestoinfluencepolicychanges,wecanbetterunderstandand
worktowardcreatingamorepositiveexperienceforallchildrenvisitingtheirparentin
prison.
Aselectionofthechildren’scommentsfromacrossEurope:
Whatdoyoulikeaboutprisonvisits?
Italy(SOS-TelefonoAzzurro):
“Iliketheflowers,theanimals,thelittlehousewithallthegamesinside.”-Nicole,6
yearsold
“Ilikethegarden,thegames,thebooks.Iwouldlovetohaveapool.I'mhappyhereandI
likebeingherewithmydad,mymumandmybrotherevenifhecanbealittlebit
spiteful.”-Sonia,7yearsold
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TheNetherlands(ExodusNederland):
“Ilikeeverythingaboutthevisit.Football,memories,photos,foodandwrestling.”–
Lyshaijya
“Thejourneytotheprisonwiththevolunteerisnice,althoughsometimesIdon’tliketo
talkthatmuch.”–Lexi
“Itisverynicetobeabletovisitmyfather:wehavelotsoffun.Ilovetodrawthere.”
England&Wales(Pact):
“Ipreferfamilydaystousualvisits,Idon’tlikeitwhenDaddycan’tleavehisseat.”
‘Theplayareaisthebestbit.”
“Iloveitwhenwecanallhaveteatogether.”
“IlikeitwhenIgettodrawandcolour-inonfamilyday.”
“IfinditimportantsoMumcanseeI’mfitandwellandsoIcanseetheprogresssheis
making.Itkeepsthebondverytight.”
“Ithinkvisitsareveryimportant.Ifyouweren’tabletocomeandseethem,both
childrenandtheparentswouldbecomestressed.”
“Ienjoydoingcraftsandmakingthingsinthevisitsformydadtotakebackwithhim.”
EnglandandWales(ChildrenHeardandSeen):
“Iwasabletomakeacardwithmydad,itwasgood.”
“Imademydadapresent.Hereadabookinthecornertome.”
“Havingartsandcraftswasgreat!Andreadingwithdad.”
“Thankyouforcarryingmybrotherashegetsscaredofdogs.”
“Familydaysarewaybetterthannormalvisitsandtherewaslotsoffunthingstodo.”
“Ilikethatdadcancomeoverhereandmakethingswithme,usuallyhehastostayin
hisseat.”
Scotland(FamiliesOutside):
“IlikethatIgettospendqualitytimewithmyDad.Ialsoenjoyplayinggamesand
drawing.Wealsoliketheviewoutthewindow.”
“IlikeplayingoutsidewithDad.”
France(RelaisEnfantsParentsIle-de-France):
“IamhappywhenIknowthatmydadisdoingwell.”
“I’mhappywhenIgotoseehim,wecantalkandplay.”
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Whatwouldmakevisitingprisonbetterforyou?
Scotland(FamiliesOutside):
“IwouldlikethevisitstobelongerasIdon’tgetenoughtimetospendwithmydad.”
“Tobeabletohavelunchasafamily.”
EnglandandWales(ChildrenHeardandSeen):
“Allvisitsshouldbefamilydays.It’sbetterasDadcangetupandplaywithus.”
“GoingthroughsecuritywasabitscarybutseeingmyDadwasgreat!”
Poland(ProbacjaFoundation):
“Itisnotachild-friendlyplace,althoughIforgetaboutthatwhenIamwithmyparent.It
isabitscary.”
“IwouldrathergoclimbingorforawalkwithmyMum.Butthat’snotpossible,soItry
nottothinkthatthisisaprisonandthatIamjustwithmyMum.”–Kasia,9yearsold
“Whenmydaughtercomestovisit,Icanseethatsheishappy,despitethecrowdedand
noisyvisitsroom.Shefindsitdifficulttostayfocusedandincontactwithme.She
doesn’tunderstandthatweonlyhaveanhour.Sayinggoodbyecanbehard.Anastasia
doesn’tunderstandwhyhermomcannotcomehomewithherlikebefore.”–onbehalf
ofAnastasia,2yearsold
“Everytimewehavetosaygoodbye,heasks:“Whywasitsoshort?Andwhycan’tI
comewithyou?”OnceIaskedhimifhewantedtocomewithme,buthesaidthatheis
scaredofprisonofficers;thosemenwhotakehisMumaway.Hisfavouriteplacehereis
acolourfullittleplayroom,andthosemomentsoftogethernessthere.”–onbehalfof
Marcin,5yearsold
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England&Wales(Pact):
“Iwishtherewasavisitors’centresowewouldn’thavetowaitoutside.Iwouldlikean
outsideplayareaorfortheinsidetobemadetolookliketheoutside.”
“IwouldliketobeabletobringinmyanimalstoseeDaddy.”
“IwouldliketogiveDaddyaDVDofusplayingsohecanseeusanytimehelikes.”
“Aplayareaforolderchildren.”
“IwouldlikeaplayareaorsomethingformetodowhenvisitingDaddyonusualvisits.”
“Thedogscometooclose.Itmademescared”
“Itwasscary.Ididn’tknowwhattodo.Ifeltupsetthatmydadwasinprison.Iwishthe
placewashappier,ratherthendullandscarywhenwewent.”
Sweden(Solrosen):
"IwantwindowsandmatsandwishIcouldhaveabathwithDad.Iwishtherewere
pillows,sothatwecouldbuildacosyhut.”
TheNetherlands(ExodusNederland):
“Iwouldliketobeabletoseethewholeprisononetime.”–Djelexi
“IonlygettoseeDadonceamonthbecauseitissofarfromourhome.”
“Iwishwecouldplaysportstogetherlikefootball,tennisortrampolining.”
France(RelaisEnfantsParentsIle-de-France):
“Iwouldliketochangethewaywewait.Ittakestoolonginthewaitingrooms.”
“Iwouldliketogototheparkwhenit’sniceoutside.”
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