Hello
Thank you for sending your letter to me.
It sounds like there’s a lot going on for you right now, and you’ve been able to share a little about how this is making you feel and how it’s impacting on your life at home and at school.
It’s great that you’ve explored the ChildLine website and looked at the Message boards to try to get a better understanding of these feelings, even by sending this letter it shows that you’re trying to change things.
You feel anxious and are worried about what your teacher said may happen if you don’t do well in your next maths exam. I wonder how it would be if you speak to your teacher to let them know that you’re feeling quite overwhelmed right now? It may be that they could help think of ways to support you too.
You write that you hate the way your dad behaves, and you want to confront him about the way he projects his anger onto everyone at home. You would like to tell him that you want it to stop, but you’re scared of your dad when he’s angry. Everyone has a right to feel safe at home; you don’t deserve to feel like this.
If you feel threatened or in danger at home remember that you can ring 999 to speak to the police or you can contact ChildLine, on 0800 1111.
You said that you’d like us to help you, I wonder how it would to talk with one of the ChildLine counsellors?
To talk to a counsellor directly you can ring 0800 1111, calls are free and don’t show up on a BT, cable or mobile phone-bill. You can also sign up on the ChildLine website and send an email, or have a 1-2-1 chat (like MSN messaging).
Sometimes being able to talk about things can be helpful instead of bottling everything up inside. You may also be able to get a better understanding of how things are for you and begin to think of ways that you can support yourself at home and with your exams at school.
I hope we hear from you again when you’re ready.
Take care
Sam