The NSPCC charity has reported that the number of boys receiving counselling has more than doubled in the past 5 years. Last year alone saw a record 58,311 boys use the Childline service, with bullying accounting for nearly 20% of all calls.
Other main call topics included sexuality, physical abuse and emotional stress within the family.ChildLine has always received more calls from girls than boys, though that trend is beginning to change. Now every one call in three is from a boys compared to five years ago when it was one in five.
Head of ChildLine, Sue Minto, said –
Desperate boys call ChildLine because they feel they have no one to turn to. It’s heartbreaking to hear their stories of rape and violent beatings, often by their parents. They sometimes suffer in silence for months before they tell anyone. By the time they call us they can be suicidal. There’s still the stigma that boys don’t cry but it may be there’s no longer so much pressure to be macho. Our counsellors are trained to help boys express their emotions – we want to encourage more of them to speak out about their abuse.
Not all the boys tell us whether they have spoken out about their problems before.But for nearly half of those who did it was the first time they were speaking out. We strongly urge boys who are struggling with their problems to call us on 0800 1111. Since ChildLine joined with the NSPCC in 2006 the helpline has been expanded and answers more calls from children and young people than ever before. Even so ChildLine is still unable to answer one in three calls but boys and girls need us more than ever and we urgently need public support to help save young lives and to be there for more children.
The NSPCC is urgently calling on the public to donate to its Child’s Voice Appeal. Even though the UK government has already pledged £30 million to help subsidise the childrens charity, more money is required to ensure that every call for help is answered.
Help the NSPCC today
The NSPCC help thousands of children each year, and with your donations they can endevour to answer more calls from children who struggle to get through on their busy phone lines.
The NSPCC are eager to raise £50million to help more children, expand the UK services and recruit nearly two thousand volunteers. By donating to the NSPCC you can help stop atrocities happening to children.
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