OPINION: Hot Issue - Should youth workers protect theconfidentiality of those in their care?

YES - Jan Barlow, chief executive, Brook

Research shows that confidentiality is vital when working with young people, particularly in relation to sexual health, and especially for under-16s. Concerns about confidentiality, anxiety about being judged or told off, and fear of the unknown can outweigh the seemingly remote risk of pregnancy or infection.

At Brook, we take our commitment to confidentiality very seriously. Even where a young person may not be considered mature enough by the doctor or nurse to consent to contraceptive treatment, their visit to Brook will remain confidential.

If a young person confides in us that they are, or have been, in an abusive situation, we support and encourage them to take action and seek external help. Generally this can be done at their own pace. We would not report this outside of Brook without consent, apart from in the most exceptional circumstances - when someone is considered to be in immediate danger - and even then we tell the young person what we intend to do.

YES - Justin Irwin, director, Get Connected

The young people who call Get Connected - a UK-wide helpline that finds young people the best help whatever the problem - that are in abusive situations can have vastly different needs. Some will only talk if assured of total confidence. They need time to talk things through, to find the courage to begin to take control of the situation. They know they want things to change, but they do not want action to be taken - yet. There are services that will do this.

On other occasions, a young person does want action to be taken, but they don't know what. They may want the responsibility of contacting social services removed from them, someone to pass on the information, someone with whom they have built up a rapport - and youth workers can fill this role.

It is vital that the young person knows what is going to happen before they pass on information. By offering this basic trust and respect, we are protecting the confidentiality of those in our care.

NO - John Wheeler, director of counselling, ChildLine, southern region

Confidentiality is not an absolute - it is limited by each situation and the framework in which we work. What's important is that, within a professional relationship with children and young people, the limits to confidentiality are made clear from the outset.

At ChildLine, we take confidentiality very seriously - and make it clear to young people calling our helpline that in the vast majority of cases what they tell us will be confidential between them and ChildLine.

We know that while young people may be ready to talk about a problem, it can take a long time for them to feel strong enough to take action and face the consequences. That's why we work with our callers to help them reach a point where they can make an informed choice. Of course, in extreme circumstances, we will step in without a child's consent - but it's never a decision ChildLine takes lightly or without making clear to the child our reason for doing so.

We should ensure that the best interests of the child are always at the core of any intervention plan once a report has been made to a statutory agency.

YES - Sarah Nelson, spokeswoman, Samaritans

We believe our responsibility lies with the people who contact us. We guarantee to the users of our service that we will not disclose any details of contacts, unless we receive a court order requiring us to divulge information or we have express permission from the person who has contacted us to do so. This applies even if someone who has contacted us dies.

Each year we're contacted by nearly five million people in distress.

Many get in touch only because they know we will treat what they say in complete confidence. If we broke that trust, many people at risk of suicide would not contact us, including young people. We believe that it's vital for young people to have somewhere to turn, in which they can trust completely and to whom they can speak without reservation.