Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted. – Garrison Keillor
The British National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has revealed that Childline received an average of almost 60 calls from suicidal youngsters every week.
It is a shocking statistic and only highlights how depression can be hidden from those we are close to. Some of the explanation given for feeling like this included “”I hate my life now dad’s gone because I get blamed for everything and mum is in the pub every day. We never have any money because of her drinking and I’ve got no friends now. I just want to die.”
Amazingly that was what a ten year old told a counsellor. Some emotional scars never heal and people of any age need an outlet for all the emotions we have and take in every day.
In terms of children, they need to be helped through difficult times by those that surround them, not least by their parents or those consider to be their guardians, when it unfortunately seems to be too easy to not act like a parent and feel that some are “missing out”.
It is a two way street, if you want your child to put their trust in you and put effort into their relationship with you, you must be able to do the same.
Recent figures from the ISPCC have shown that two fifths of children in Ireland that called were unable to access the service. More needs to be done to make sure that help is available, out of hours services being just one of the improvements that should be made.
It’s time to start opening doors and letting children know there is always another option, always another way.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.
Responses are currently closed
matthew Says:
Let us not forget the greatest cruelty of all to children – abortion.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:06 am