Childline: Survey reveals 34% of teenagers concerned what future will bring
Since the launch of Childline in 1986, the service has delivered more than six million counselling sessions to children across the United Kingdom, on a range of topics, including abuse, online harms and bullying.
A new survey of teenagers in England commissioned by the NSPCC, shows that one in three (34%) said that what the future would bring was a top concern for them.
The survey, conducted by Savanta, also found that more than one in five young people (22%) are most troubled by the state of the world and one in four (26%) said mental health was a key concern. Only 14% cited social media and being online as a major worry.
In a parallel poll, 1,504 adults in England – who were teenagers when Childline launched in 1986 – said social media and being online (65%), body image and appearance (48%) and mental health issues (46%) were the main reasons why it was harder being a teenager now than when they were growing up.
One 15-year-old girl told Childline counsellors: "I spend a lot of time worrying about what's going to happen in the future. Sometimes it feels like everything in the world is changing so quickly and I don't know where I fit into it all."
While one 16-year-old boy said: "Everyone tells us these are supposed to be the best years of our lives, but I feel under pressure all the time. I'm worried about exams, money and what comes next after school."
It's not just the worries that children have which have changed over the decades. The way children access support has also changed significantly over the last forty years, from phone calls and letters to online support. In Childline's first decade, more than half of contacts came via telephone boxes, with the remainder made through landline phones.
Today, almost three quarters of Childline contacts take place online, with trained counsellors providing support through one-to-one chats alongside the service's telephone helpline.
Childline has evolved alongside young people, but one thing has remained constant: children still need someone who will listen to them, without judgement, and help them find a way forward.