A recent article by Rachael Gray of The Garden City Telegram brings up some intriguing points about how children are used for language interpretation in medical and educational settings.
First, although experts are unanimous in their disapproval of child interpreters in the medical domain, sometimes parents prefer to have their children interpret for them – or even insist upon it, putting hospitals in a delicate situation:
“Jill Whippo, social services director at St. Catherine Hospital, said the hospital must deal with the obstacle of families requesting their own interpreters. St. Catherine has three full-time interpreters for Spanish and uses a language line for other languages.
Whippo said the hospital tries to discourage using children as interpreters because the child may not have the vocabulary in both languages to fully explain the situation in English and another language. Also, she said, medical information can be a heavy burden on a child.”
In an example from another field, Gray also points out how children can occasionally turn interpreting between their parents and their school to their advantage:
“English teacher] Gonzales said because of the young, quick minds of children, interpreting isn't often hard on them. He said it can sometimes add to problems with discipline because children can give their parents false versions of why they are in trouble at school.”
The above examples show some of the complications that can arise when children of families with limited English proficiency end up doing language interpretation.
Betty Carlson | 
