ChildLine

ChildLine is a charity and free 24 hour counselling service for young people provided by The NSPCC. There are 150 services around the world including Ireland and India. The helpline deals with any issue which causes discomfort such as child abuse, bullying and sex it helps children in need

Confidentiality

ChildLine's intension is to always keep calls confidential. ChildLine counsellors only take action if the situation is very serious or life threatening. Counsellors do not record calls but write down case notes of calls and sometimes counselling supervisors may also listen in to calls to make sure that they can help you the best they can.

History of Childline UK

In 1986 Esther Rantzen, presenter of That's Life!, a popular consumer TV show, suggested to the BBC that they create "Childwatch", a programme about child abuse, the aim being to try to detect children at risk before their lives were in danger. Viewers were asked if they would take part in the survey in an edition of That's Life!, a helpline was opened after the programme so that any child currently suffering abuse could call for help. Rantzen therefore suggested to the production team of Childwatch that they could create a helpline specifically for children in danger or distress, to be open throughout the year, 24/7, and launch it on the programme.

UK Operations

ChildLine has 13 counselling centres around the UK, staffed largely by volunteers. The bases are located in Glasgow and Aberdeen, (where the service is provided by the Scottish children's charity Children lst), Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Rhyl, Swansea, Birmingham, Nottingham, London, Exeter, Belfast and Foyle. As many as 4,500 children have phoned ChildLine every day, though only 2,500 of these callers can be answered. Since the merger with the NSPCC the service has expanded, and depends on public generosity to pay for the children's phone calls.

Unlike most other freephone helplines, Childline offers confidentiality to children unless their lives are in immediate danger. This is seen as one of the greatest strengths of the service, as it allows children to discuss their problems "safely" in the knowledge that no intervention will take place without their consent. The tragedy of child abuse is that the majority of children suffer in silence because they have been told that if they seek help they will not be believed, or they are threatened into silence, or they fear that intervention will inevitably shatter such happiness as they have, for example, break up the family. Children who ring ChildLine to disclose abuse are often encouraged to seek help from "trusted adults", the aim being to protect the child from harm causing as little ancillary damage as possible. ChildLine's counsellors are trained to use role play and empathy to build children's confidence. ChildLine offers its own training programme for volunteers who come from widely varied backgrounds, but must be over 16. Many counsellors have worked for years for the charity. Calls to ChildLine do not appear on phone bills. Despite most mobile phone operators charging for freephone 0800 calls, calls to ChildLine's number are not charged by any UK mobile network. Calls are free, can be made at any time, day or night and children can ring about any problem, if a problem is important to children and young people, it is important to ChildLine.

Childline Scotland

Childline Scotland is run by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and is available to all children and young people in Scotland up to 18 years of age.

Lines are open 365 days a year. Childline Scotland offers support to young people through the Childline listening service over the phone and through the website Childline Online. There is also a text service open for all deaf children in Scotland.

Any person under the age of 18 can call Childline for a chat or to talk about anything they wish to talk about. Calls to Childline are confidential, there is no caller ID and calls are not traced. It doesn't cost anything to call or text Childline. Calls are answered by staff and volunteers who have been trained to listen to children and young people.

Calls to Childline are confidential. However if a young person is not safe, and chooses to tell Childline where they are, then their details would be passed on to someone who can help, like the Gardaí or social workers. It’s always up to the caller whether or not to tell Childline where they are.

International

Similar children's helplines using the name ChildLine have been formed in a number of countries. As of 2005 these included India's Childline India Foundation, Ireland, Namibia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Gibraltar and Zimbabwe. Some of these are independent charities; others have been set up by existing children's charities or more general helplines.