Hi Sam I keep on getting into trouble because my mum sees me going on childline what do I do?
Hi there,
It's always okay to contact Childline but sometimes this might mean not telling others. There may be times when a parent or carer will tell you not to visit a certain website or watch a certain TV show, but talking to Childline is different to those times. It's important to first understand why your mum doesn't want you to go on Childline as this will help you choose what to do next.
Sometimes an adult might not want a young person to talk to us because they may be hurting or abusing them in some way. In those cases they know that Childline is going to help you to make that stop. It's always okay to hide your visits to our website from someone who is hurting you. We have some advice about covering your tracks that might be useful for you to look at.
Sometimes parents don't understand what Childline does and think that you have to be being abused to get in touch with us. This isn't true. Any young person can contact us about anything.
Some parents may worry that we'll tell other people what you've said to us or that you might get in trouble from us. If this is the case then helping them to understand that it's okay for you to talk to us might mean you don't have to hide your visits. If you wanted you can show them this letter as I'm going to explain how we work.
You can talk to Childline anytime, about anything you want. You don't have to be being abused and there is nothing too big or too small to talk to us about. There are lots of ways to use Childline - whether it's reading my letters, using our Art box, talking to a counsellor, getting info and advice or talking to other young people on our message boards. Childline is here for all young people to contact as often as they need to and is available both online and on the phone. We have a confidentiality promise that means most of the time we keep what you say between you and us.
There's more info on our About Childline page. And I've also answered lots of other letters within the About Childline section of my page.
I hope this helps.
Take care,
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.
