NSPCC reports rise in children seeking mental health support
Fiona Simpson
Friday, November 15, 2019
Childline has seen a surge in calls from children seeking counselling over concerns about their mental and emotional health over the past year, NSPCC figures show.
It has called on the government to “support young people to get help from a trusted adult”.
Figures published today by the NSPCC show that Childline delivered 109,136 counselling sessions on mental and emotional health and wellbeing in 2018/19 compared with 101,454 in 2017/18.
The calls included those from children worried about suicidal thoughts and feelings, and self-harm relating to themselves or others.
In 34,513 cases the counsellor was the first person a child had spoken to about their problem.
Some 74 per cent of counselling sessions over the last year were delivered online.
Online sessions take twice as long as those carried out over the phone, leading the NSPCC to call for more volunteers to support children 24/7.
The charity added that it had been unable to support one in three children contacting Childline.
Childline delivered 4,500 counselling sessions around child sexual exploitation in 2018/19 - a 16 per cent increase on the previous year. The youngest child to contact the charity about this was just nine years old.
In more than a third of counselling sessions about child sexual exploitation young people said they were targeted online - usually through social media or video games, and often by their peers or people they knew.
The NSPCC has also called on the government to provide proper training to teachers so they can deliver effective and relevant lessons about healthy relationships, consent and sex.
From September 2020, relationships education will be compulsory for all primary pupils, relationships and sex education will be compulsory for all secondary pupils and health education will be compulsory in all state-funded schools in England.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC said: “Sadly, we are hearing from young people every day who are being manipulated or blackmailed into carrying out sexual acts.
“The government must ensure teachers are confident to teach the new relationship and sex education lessons rolling out next year, and Childline needs more volunteers to make sure they can be there for every child who needs our help, at all times of day and night."
Overall, Childline delivered 250,281 counselling sessions in 2018/19 with 5,676 of these referred to outside agencies including the police or children’s services.
In 34,513 cases the child said the counsellor was the first person they had spoken to about their problem.
