Childline’s annual review from 2018-19 shows that calls to the service have decreased overall by 10.65 percent since 2017-18. Calls made to the service, where the main concern of the call was bullying, dropped by 21.6 percent, whereas calls made to the service, where the main concern of the call was mental health and well-being, increased by 4.4 percent.
In the 2018-19 review Childline have published data which is broken down to include girls, boys, and (for the first time) transgender children and young people in their demographics; the data indicates that bullying is more prevalent in boys calling the service than in other genders.
Childline’s review indicates that bullying is a significantly more prevalent reason for seeking support within the young age groups; those who are 11 and under and have used the service have reported that the primary reason for seeking support is bullying, whereas for those who are 12-15 and 15-18 report that the primary reason for seeking support is for mental/emotional health.
As not every child who needs our help is ready or wants to speak directly to a counsellor Childline have made it a priority to also provide support and counselling via their website; 74 percent of Childline’s counselling sessions took place online in 2018-19.