Childline warns of children living in fear over summer

Wed, 19 Jun, 2024 - 09:32

Amy Campbell

CHILDLINE will field a wave of calls from Cork in the coming days as children finish school, a services manager at the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has said.

The last few days of the school year can be a time of huge anxiety for children with a troubled home life who might fear being with their family for eight weeks, Aoife Griffin of ISPCC in the South region told The Echo.

“We find there’s an upsurge in calls during all school holidays — the midterm breaks, Easter, Christmas, and summer.

“Some people, particularly living in rural areas, can be isolated from their friends for the summer,” she said, adding that school can also be an escape when the situation is precarious at home.

“In school they’re now getting a hot meal, and there could be financial stress at home, so a lot of kids are worried about what the summer will be like for them.

“Schools can provide a lot of emotional support, and a lot of services also are either closed or people are taking leave, affecting the continuity of service, so there’s an uncertainty around who will be keeping an eye on them.”

Ms Griffin continued: “As schools finish in the next few days, there will be a lot of children feeling a certain amount of dread at having to spend all their time at home, depending on their family dynamic they may be forced to spend time with another parent or family member that they might not particularly want to.

“All these different dynamics can be at play. Summer time has positive connotations for most of us but it’s just not the case for everyone.

“Summer can be a time when there’s a lot of people at home all gathered together for eight weeks so tension can be high and there can be more conflict in the home. There’s a lot of young people living in a home with domestic violence which can be very difficult.”

Anxiety and depression continue to be in their top reasons for referral to face to face supports, Ms Griffin said.

“They have increased in the last number of years.”

Between 5% to 6% of its calls are around child abuse, including neglect, emotional, sexual and physical, Ms Griffin said, and that “this is quite a significant number out of around 1,000 calls a week”. Childline by ISPCC has launched a new campaign called Monster Spray in support of its national fundraising appeal around this difficult time of year for many.

The campaign features an entrepreneurial pre-teen girl, Emily, selling Monster Spray to passersby. A spokesperson for Childline said: “Emily knows only too well the dangers posed by monsters. She lives with one,” and: “Brave Emily is giving away Monster Spray to other children to help protect them from the potential monsters in their lives.”

The ISPCC’s James Phelan, said every day, Childline staff and volunteers hear from children who “tell us about abuse and neglect and the devastation these have on their lives. No matter how brave they are, they can’t defeat monsters on their own.”