cjm 76: Children and young people

Sir Al Aynsley-Green and his colleagues at 11 MILLION guest edit the themed section of this issue.

Together, we have attempted to ensure that the voices of children and people are at the centre of the themed section and can be heard loud and clear in its pages.

The articles underline that what is perhaps most crucial is that those in government and the voluntary sector as well as education, health and social care providers speak and respond to children and young people rather than simply see them as an object of concern to be spoken about. Those at the bottom of pile at times of social and economic stress are children and young people from poor or vulnerable backgrounds which is why we have fore-grounded the experiences of children and young people in the care system, from Yarl's Wood detention centre and those dealing with the commonplace experience of racism towards migrants. We also carry an interview with 'Tony', one of the  growing numbers of young people being caught up in the criminal justice system.

Other articles in this issue include Rod Morgan on the use and abuse of first-time entrants' data and Arianna Silvestri who reviews a significant piece of research carried out by herself and others, on young people and gun and knife crime.