Growing numbers of young people are not sharing their problems with their families but are reaching out to local support services for help instead.
Carmen Taheny, local community fundraiser with Childline, was commenting at the launch of the children’s charity’s annual call statistics for 2009 in the city on Tuesday.
Childline, which is run by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, nationally received almost 900,000 calls last year, an increase of more than 150,000 on 2008. It answers about 60 per cent of calls received.
Its Galway office answered almost 50,000 of the staggering half a million calls answered nationally which demonstrates the need for its local office, says the organisation.
Ms Taheny said Childline’s statistics identify a “growing concern” that young people in Ireland are not sharing their difficulties with those closest to them, their families.
This may be because they do not want to further worry parents who are already under pressure due to the economic downturn, she explained.
“It was a very challenging year for families in Ireland due to the exceptional financial burden that was placed on them. This was clearly felt by young people in Ireland who rather that placing further burden on their families appear to be sourcing external supports like the Childline service.”
Some 80 per cent of child protection concerns were received out-of-hours, according to the charity’s report. Fifty-five per cent of calls were from children with concerns relating to their personal life, indicating a growing demand for the listening service. There was also a rise in calls relating to abuse, violence and difficulties with families.
“We received 815,708 calls last year, a rise on the previous year of over 150,000 calls. It is of note that in a year when the nation’s horrifying history of child abuse was brought to light and when families the length and breath of the country were struggling under increasing financial strain Childline received such a significant increase in calls to its helpline,” the report outlines.
Childline manager, Lloyd Byrne said the charity has been listening to Ireland’s children for the last 22 years.
“But we are astounded by the dramatic increase in the number of calls we received in 2009. To date we have listened to almost three million children in Ireland with over 500,000 of those in 2009. This reflects the increasing need for Childline and for children to be listened to in Ireland.”
While Childline answers more than 60 per cent of calls received, it is keen to increase this number.
“While we saw an increase in the number of calls Childline answered, close to 40 per cent of children who contacted it did not receive a service,” says director of services, Caroline O’Sullivan.
“The financial environment continues to be very unstable but despite this Childline will endeavour to increase the number of calls answered in 2010. It is clear through examining our call figures that the demand for the Childline service is increasing now more than ever.”
ISPCC chief executive, Ashley Balbirnie, says people need to ask themselves as a nation how they value their children and childhood.
“Do we seek, as our nation’s founders sought, a society with ‘equal rights and equal opportunities for all its citizens….cherishing all of the children of the nation equally’ or do we accept the society we have, where children continue to be viewed as second class citizens. The ISPCC is calling on the government of today to do as it ought to do and enshrine children’s rights in our Constitution. We are calling on members of the public to support the campaign by logging on to www.facebook.com
