ChildLine

CHILDLINE IS the United Kingdom's free, 24-hour help line for children in distress or danger. The help line provides a counseling service to comfort, advise, and protect children and young people who may feel they have nowhere else to turn. ChildLine began in 1986, shortly after a television consumer program invited individuals to respond to a survey it was conducting on child abuse.

As the program raised sensitive issues, a help line was provided for 24 hours after the program was broadcast. The help line received an overwhelming number of calls from children who wished to disclose reports of abuse and mistreatment while remaining anonymous. A national, toll-free telephone number was subsequently created and staffed by volunteers. Since its launch, ChildLine has counseled well over one million children.

One of the most common reasons why children call ChildLine is abuse. Statistics show that in Britain abuse was accounted for in the following ways: physical neglect [Page 150](42 percent), physical abuse (32 percent), sexual abuse (19 percent), and emotional abuse (16 percent), with some overlap, according to B. Corby. Children suffering abuse are often threatened to remain silent or made to feel ashamed and guilty. Therefore, children and young people can be afraid to disclose their abuse for fear of what may happen to them or their family. However, ChildLine offers a service that is fully confidential and can therefore be a stepping-stone for children to begin to talk about their experiences and seek the help they need. Counselors can also give children information and advice about speaking to other adults and services, and will support them through this process.

There are a variety of reasons why perpetrators abuse children. For example, such people may have experienced abuse themselves. However, research shows that the biggest risk factor in the abuse of children is poverty, as shown by C. Becket. This is a complex issue and is not an exhaustive determinant. However, many factors contribute toward this risk. The National Research Council (1993) reported that in the United States, families who received welfare support, had single mothers, had unemployed fathers, or were living in poor neighborhoods were more likely to have children placed on a child protection register. All of these issues, and more, impact a parent's physical and mental wellbeing, especially cumulative stress.

ChildLine also received 31,000 calls in 2004 from children who were experiencing bullying. Children can be bullied physically, verbally, or emotionally, and experience hurt and humiliation. Threatening text messages and e-mails add to bullying in a more indirect way. A recent survey of 2,869 18- to 24-year-olds in Britain reported that 43 percent of children and young people had previously been bullied or discriminated against at school, according to P. Cawson et al. As in other forms of abuse, children who are bullied find it hard to disclose their experience, with 30 percent suffering in silence, as studied by D.S. Hawker and M.J. Boulton. In response to an increase in calls regarding bullying, ChildLine created a working partnership with schools, called ChildLine in Partnership with Schools (CHIPS). CHIPS works to highlight and address the issues surrounding bullying.

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