Specifically, they describe the procedures for resolving ethical concerns about child research with the university ethics committee, principals of the schools where the survey was conducted, school governing boards, teachers, parents, and the children themselves. The authors ultimately adopted passive consent procedures to overcome ethical issues in a national survey of New Zealand elementary-school children's experiences of violence. Although the paper focuses on the passive consent procedures rather than survey findings, aspects of the sampling and research methods are described to set the context for the study. Passive consent requires only parents who do not give their permission for their child to participate in the survey to sign and return the consent form. Parents who do not return the form are deemed to have given passive consent. Seeking active consent from parents and caregivers may have denied some children their right to choose to participate. This paper describes the three-stage consent process used to gain access to the children for their self reports. At all points, the consent process offered schools, parents, and children the option to decline participation. Issues discussed are confidentiality, truthfulness, minimizing harm and deception, and social sensitivity. Another methodological issue discussed is the importance of using words the children can understand in defining physical, emotional, and sexual violence. The children who participated in the pilot study helped in framing the definitions to fit the youth culture. 35 references