Hi there,
Thank you for your letter. It can be really hard to know what to do when you are worried about a friend, but you did the right thing to talk about it. No one has the right to hit or hurt another person and Childline believes that all children should be safe from being harmed in this way. There is help out there for you and your friend, so you did the right thing to ask for advice about this.
It sounds like seeing your friend being hit and hurt at home was really upsetting. I wonder if you had a chance to talk to him (or her) about it afterwards? It can be hard to know how to start a conversation like that, but it could make a big different for your friend just to know that someone cares. It might be that your friend feels worried or embarrassed about discussing what happened, so dont be offended if they dont want to talk right away.
If a friend is not safe, then its ok to ask an adult for help. Have you ever thought of talking to your parents about this? Or maybe a trusted adult like another family member, teacher, school counsellor or GP? They could all help and support you and your friend through this.
Another idea would be to support your friend to come and talk with a counsellor at Childline about this? I know that it can be hard to talk about being hurt but your friend can say as much or as little as they want to. The counsellors are used to listening to young people who have been through situations like this and even if it takes time, they will always try to help. Remember that you deserve to get support for yourself too. If you decided to speak to a counsellor yourself about your worries for your friend, that would be great too.
You and your friend might want to check out the Explore page on Physical abuse for more information about being hurt at home. This will also give you some ideas about what you can do to get help, if you or your friend dont feel comfortable talking about it with a counsellor just yet. You could also check out our message boards and ask other young people for advice.
There are people out there who can help your friend. I hope you can try some of the things I suggested, but if you or your friend ever need some more advice, ChildLine is always here for you on 0800 1111 or you can also log in for a 1-2-1 chat.
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.
