Rise in loneliness among children sparks wellbeing concerns
Emily Harle
Monday, March 6, 2023
Calls to Childline from children under 11 struggling with loneliness have risen by 71 per cent in just five years, latest data shows, sparking concern for young people's mental wellbeing.
The confidential counselling service delivered 5,564 sessions with children on this issue between April 2021 and March 2022, and is contacted 15 times a day on average by children suffering from loneliness.
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Counselling sessions on loneliness peaked during the pandemic and the national lockdown, with more than 6,000 young people contacting Childline for this issue between April 2020 to March 2021. Though numbers have dropped slightly, numbers of children in need of support remain high, according to the charity.
Children told counsellors they felt lonely for a wide range of reasons, including being left out of friendship groups and social media chats, feeling negatively about themselves, and feeling misunderstood by loved ones.
One 10-year-old girl told a counsellor: “I am so lonely as I have no friends at school anymore. I often cry myself to sleep at night…so I called Childline. I have not told my parents how I am feeling because I don’t think they will take it seriously.”
Childline has launched a new campaign to raise awareness and encourage children to seek mental health support early, to prevent it from escalating to a crisis point.
The Day in the Lonely campaign, funded by Lidl GB, uses three videos to show different ways that children may experience loneliness, based on real Childline calls.
One features a boy who is feeling lonely and misunderstood despite having an active social life and lots of friends around him.
Childline’s director Shaun Friel said: “Loneliness is sadly an issue that a high number of children and young people are experiencing and we know the impact this can have on a child’s wellbeing and mental health.
“Through this campaign, we want to raise awareness among children and adults, that there are many reasons why young people might feel lonely, but these feelings don’t have to last and that getting support early on can prevent things from escalating in the future.”
