Hi there,
Thank you for your letter. I’m really glad you’ve had the courage to write to me about how things are at home especially when I can hear how much dad’s behaviour scares you.
You said that your parents fight a lot and from what you say it sounds like your dad gets very angry and doesn’t seem to be able to control his temper. Christmas seems to be a common time for your dad to loose his temper but it can also happen anytime, over very small things like water on the toilet floor. I can see from what you say that you’re always terrified about it happening again and it’s caused you to have OCD and feel really depressed. I’m really concerned to hear about what you and your sister have had to deal with over the past couple of years without any support.
You’ve done really well trying to talk to your mum about how you feel and I’m sorry to hear that your mum doesn’t seem to be taking your worries seriously. It seems like you’ve got to a point where you might need some support and ChildLine would like to help and support you whenever you need it. You haven’t said how old your sister is but she’s also welcome to support from us if she’s under 19 years old.
You could talk to one of our counsellors, they will listen and support you and won’t judge you. There’s someone here 24 hours a day and you can call us for free on 0800 1111 or have an online 1-2-1 chat. You can also use the ChildLine emails but it may take a little longer for us to respond to those. By the way the calls shouldn’t show up on phone bills so you don’t have to worry about anyone knowing you’ve called.
You might find some useful, supportive information on physical abuse on our website. You can also take a look at the message boards where young people help and support each other. I’d also just like to say that if at any point you are worried that your dad is really going to hurt anyone you can ring the Police on 999 for immediate help.
You’ve done really well to send this letter and hope that you will be able to find the courage to contact us to get the support you deserve.
Take care,
Sam