Causes | Poor language proficiency among Maghrebis |
Very limited access to translation/mediation resources | |
Translation/mediation services not proactively organized | |
Maghrebi adults prioritiz their employment responsibilities over children’s education | |
Perceived attitudes among health professionals | Positive attitude to using children as translators in health services |
No desire to encourage the participation of children, but no opposition to it | |
Opposition to the practice for several reasons (quality of translation and perpetuation of dependence effect among users) | |
Opposition to the practice because it infringes on the child’s rights | |
Maghrebi adults’ attitudes | Willingness to routinely use support resources |
Willingness to occasionally use support resources (but not in situations where sexual or reproductive issues are discussed, or where this would lead to missing school) | |
A belief that children should not used in this way | |
Consequences | Translations are of poor quality |
The children miss school | |
Children are emotionally affected | |
Family hierarchies are inverted | |
Child’s self-esteem may be affected positively | |
Proposals for improvement | Collaboration between educational and health care institutions Promotion of firm attitudes against using children as translators |
Provision of sufficient mediation/translation services | |
Promotion of language learning among Maghrebi immigrant | |
Provision of the same employment rights for immigrants and Spanish nationals |