Childline charity is contacted 67 times each day by children with suicidal thoughts and feelings

The NSPCC revealed this week there’s been a sharp rise in the number of under 11s contacting its Childline support service for help with thoughts of despair, including suicide. Although most of the twenty-four thousand young people who called the charity in 2108/19 were teenagers, the NSPCC reported an almost 90% increase in the number of under 11s using Childline compared with the previous three years.

For children with suicidal thoughts contacting the charity, the most common underlying issues were linked to difficult family relationships and problems at school or college. Some callers were aware of the negative impact to their mental health and how this could manifest as self-harm (read last week’s post about Self-Injury Awareness Day), a growing issue with young people.

To help combat this trend, the NSPCC announced the launch of a new campaign called KIDS in Real Life. They are asking the public to help them improve the mental health of children, especially in the online space where there are more ways for abuse, bullying and harm to occur than a generation ago. The charity is asking people to join in with their Pledge to Protect and if possible, to support Childline’s important work in providing a service to kids in times of crisis, by making a donation. Please follow the links if you think you can help.