ChildLine in 2005/2006
Key child protection statistics (December 2007)
The reasons that children and young people gave for calling ChildLine in 2005/06.
- Between April 2005 and April 2006, ChildLine counselled 159,535 children.
- The girl/boy ratio was 3:1.
- The main reasons that children gave for calling Childline were:
- Bullying: 37,074 (23%)
- Family relationships (including divorce and separation): 21,088 (13%)
- Physical abuse: 12,453 (8%)
- Concern for others: 11,375 (7%)
- Facts of life: 10,658 (7%)
- Sexual abuse: 9,279 (6%)
- Pregnancy: 7,700 (5%)
For complete figures please see:
Breakdown of reasons for children calling ChildLine in 2005/06 (PDF, 52KB)
- 23% of children counselled were aged 5-11. 58% were aged 12-15. 20% were aged 16-18.
- ChildLine referred 1,251 children to other agencies, such as police or social services. The main reasons for referral were physical abuse (22%), homelessness (22%) and running away from home (16%). ChildLine also referred 98 children who were actively suicidal at the time of their call, contacting emergency services for 61 of them.
Children counselled about bullying in 2005-2006
- Bullying has been the number one reason for children phoning ChildLine for the past 10 years.
- An even higher proportion of younger children phone to talk about being bullied: 5-11 year olds account for 41% of children counselled about bullying. 12-15 year olds account for 54%, and 16-18 year olds for 5%.
- Almost one in five of children counselled about bullying are aged 12 - the year of transition to secondary school.
- 60% of children counselled about bullying talk about being called names or teased. 55% talk about physical bullying. 11% talk about verbal or written threats. A small number of children (171) phoned ChildLine to talk about their own bullying behaviour.
Children counselled about sexual abuse in 2005-2006
- Of the 9,279 children counselled about sexual abuse, 54% had been abused by a family member. A further 32% had been abused by someone known to them, with only 6% abused by a stranger. The remainder did not disclose by whom they had been abused.
- 63% of (4,297) children counselled about sexual abuse talked about being raped. 29% talked about sexual touching.
- 17% of children counselled about sexual abuse were aged 5-11. 64% were aged 12-15, and 19% were 16-18.
20 years of ChildLine
- Since its launch in 1986, ChildLine has counselled almost 2 million children. Almost 300,000 children have been counselled about bullying.
- Over 170,000 children have been counselled about sexual abuse.
- ChildLine has counselled almost 10,000 children who were suicidal when they called.
Volunteers at ChildLine
- At the end of March 2006, ChildLine had 1,386 volunteers on the books.
- Between them, they gave 78,224 counselling hours.
Source: ChildLine (2005/2006) – unpublished data.
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Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NH. Incorporated by Royal Charter. Registered charity number 216401. NSPCC, charity registered in Scotland, charity number SC037717.