Latest figures reveal that Kids Helpline, a service of yourtown, has responded to over 500 daily contacts from children and young people aged 5 to 25 years of age who had contacted the service by telephone, WebChat or email over the period October to December 2020.
In addition to direct counselling support, the Kids Helpline website provides a range of tip sheets and self-help resources which were accessed 7,500 times per day in 2020.
Kids Helpline plays a critical role in areas like mental health and child protection. Contacts made to the service from children and young people may be seeking information about anything including: support or counselling about mental health or family relationships, cyber safety, bullying, sexual abuse, homelessness, suicidal thoughts, and drug and alcohol use.
“Kids Helpline enables children and young people to make contact in ways they feel comfortable about, from anywhere in the country. The service connects young people to professionally trained counsellors who can help them navigate their way through problems or dark times,” said yourtown Chief Executive Officer Tracy Adams.
The five most common reasons kids and young people seek counselling support are mental health (28%), emotional wellbeing (25%), family relationships (19%), suicide-related (15%) and friend/peer relationships (9%).
“There was a 17% increase in demand from children and young people from South Australia which aligns to the national demand increase of 16%, compared to 2019,” Ms Adams continued.
Children and young people who contact the service have direct access to a counsellor and can choose to speak with either a male or female counsellor. They are also able to arrange to speak again with the same counsellor to work through their issues.
“Kids Helpline plays an important role as a safety net to support young people. The pandemic has intensified the level of support required by young people who continue to contact Kids Helpline.
“As we enter a new year, we don’t expect to see a decline any time soon in help-seeking from children and young people reaching out to Kids Helpline. As Australia rebuilds, the need for counselling and support services will only continue,” Ms Adams said.
Facebook: @kidshelpline, Insta @kidshelplineau, Twitter @KidsHelplineAU.
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yourtown Corporate Communications & Media Advisor: Maree Reason-Cain Phone 0423 843 786 OR [email protected]
