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I'm writing a legal essay and the sentence is

For example, a young person’s reluctance to seek redress, and that youth are often not taken seriously, their words often not repeated in court rooms.

I was thinking about putting ignored in its place but it didn't seem to fit. I typed ignored and overlooked both into online thesauruses but still nothing appropriate.

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    Other than this one issue, do you consider the sentence to be grammatical? Because, to me it seems confusing.... for example, should it not be "... their words are often not repeated..."? I'm also struggling a bit with the singular "young person" and plural "youth"...
    – Catija
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 7:29
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    Also, what is the "that" doing before youth?If the whole shebang is reporting of what someone else argues, with the main verb in the preceding sentence, surely there should be a "that" before a young person too?
    – David Pugh
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 7:39
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    @DavidPugh I think (but am not sure) that, in this case, "that" means "the fact that".
    – Catija
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 7:45
  • @Catija Both you and David Pugh make relevant points. It seems to me that the writer is trying to say that it is their reluctance to seek redress that causes youth not to be taken seriously. In which case the sentence needs changing altogether.
    – WS2
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 8:08
  • @Catija, DavidPugh and WS2. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I apologise for the ocnfusion - I chopped the sentence a bit to focus on the part I wanted help with. I was meaning 'the fact that' as Catija said but the overall point was that how restorative justice helps to overcome obstacles such as a young person's reluctance or the way in which youth's (in general) opinions are overlooked. :)
    – Tylah
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 8:16

3 Answers 3

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I'd argue that you see "not take seriously" in enough important news sources to think it's not completely informal.

If you want something different, how about:

not heeded

Heed:

to pay careful attention to somebody’s advice or warning

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  • A lot of what I would call political bullshit writing (over)uses "addressed" in this kind of context. "The needs of the black community in Ferguson are being addressed".
    – David Pugh
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 7:31
  • Yeah, I hear that, too... "needs are not addressed". You should make an answer with that. :)
    – Catija
    Commented May 24, 2015 at 7:32
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You might say not given due consideration.

Longman's dictionary suggests the following sample usage:

After due consideration, I have decided to tender my resignation.

In many contexts "due consideration" would be a formal version of "take seriously"

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Following Catija's advice, I nominate "not being addressed".

It is the perfect register for this kind of writing, i.e., social-workerese, aka hot air.

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