‘Growing up is now 1,000 times harder’ says Cork Childline boss 

As the new school term begins, a spokesperson for Childline in Cork has warned that “growing up has gotten a thousand times harder”.

With thousands of children across the city and county preparing to enter and return to the school setting, members of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) are highlighting a range of issues which have been made known to the agency through their Childline service.

Speaking to The Echo, Regina O’Sullivan, Cork regional Childline manager, said the three main concerns among young callers ahead of the back-to-school season are mental health/ anxiety, bullying/ peer pressure, and routine/ exam stress.

“The back-to-school season can be very mixed for children, it can be a time of stress and uncertainty,” said Ms O’Sullivan.

“In Childline, at the beginning of the summer, we have the cohort of children who are sitting exams, which can go up until the end of June; then in July, it’s the kids who feel they struggled in their exams, worrying about results and that their parents will be disappointed; then from August onwards, we have the group of children who are worried about starting or returning to school.

“A lot of them are worried about adjusting their routine, but we often hear about issues such as bullying, which they may have had a reprieve from during the summer holidays, and they also worry about fitting in with their peers.

“Peer acceptance is a big thing —we always encourage children to talk to their parents about these concerns, because sometimes just talking it out can help,” she added.

“I think it’s really important for parents to try and get five minutes alone with their child, to ask them how they feel about going back to school, and their hopes for the school year ahead.

“I would say calls about mental health and anxiety, followed up very closely by bullying and peer pressure, would be a running theme every year.

“There’s an awful lot of pressure when it comes to trends; September is now as big as Christmas with what’s needed — the shoes, the hair, the bag — there’s so much pressure on kids who don’t have the same as their peers.”

Blurred lines

Ms O’Sullivan further highlighted how social media can feed into these issues, adding fuel to the already unpredictable fire that is being a teenager.

“In my professional role, and as a parent, it’s frightening what people think is acceptable now,” said Ms O’Sullivan.

“Young people are being heavily influenced by online videos, by cancel culture, seeing all these nasty comments online, some being left by adults — my worry is that they think this is OK.

“There are very blurred lines nowadays, social media can be so toxic.

“When young people read these comments, they often jump on the bandwagon and don’t think about the bigger picture,” she added.

“I think a lot of children end up bullying other children because they want to be accepted by their peers.

“We often get kids calling in saying they feel bad about bullying someone, but they feel like they have to go along with it — bullies bully because they want to be accepted.

“It’s absolutely getting worse. Growing up has gotten a thousand times harder,” she said.

“As a parent, I am terrified, because I see every day what’s happening with social media. I always say that every parent should volunteer with Childline because you wouldn’t believe it unless you heard it yourself.

“We’re so used to hearing about being careful online that I think it’s starting to go in one ear and out the other.”

Blackmail and child sexual abuse imagery

Ms O’Sullivan additionally touched on the concerning rise of calls regarding blackmail, revenge porn and child sexual abuse imagery throughout the back-to-school season, with many children seeking help as a last resort before turning to more extreme measures.

“There has been a huge increase in teenage boys being blackmailed over sexual imagery, more so nearly than girls now,” said Ms O’Sullivan.

“It’s heartbreaking — on a daily basis we have kids calling saying that suicide is the only or easiest way out.

“We have such a large group of children calling that are in absolute panic because they are being blackmailed over something they did online.

“Every year I have been with Childline, it’s getting worse and worse,” she added.

“Six years ago, I would have maybe had a phone call or online chat about revenge porn once every couple of months, but it’s daily now.

“There are a lot of scammers out there who are blackmailing children for money — it’s boys and girls — they think that they’re talking to an older person, maybe 16 years old or 17 years old; they end up sending explicit photos of themselves, and then they’re getting blackmailed.

“Another worrying trend is that I had one teenage girl call in recently who had been scrolling on TikTok; she was looking at an innocent video and saw that there were a lot of comments saying ‘cheese pizza’, which is actually code for child porn.

“She ended up clicking a link which brought her to a website where she saw child sex abuse images — she was so traumatised.

“All she was doing was looking up make-up tutorials, but this came up on her page,” she said.

“There are age restrictions in place on certain apps, but new laws need to be implemented — social media platforms need to get stricter with age verification.

“This would reduce a lot of trolling and bullying, as well as other things, because people are making multiple accounts to do these things.

“The age to make a Facebook or TikTok account is 13 years old — I really think those need to go up, I don’t think children are prepared to use these apps responsibly.

“There’s a very dark side that I don’t think parents are aware of. There are so many children being subjected to child pornography, online predators and grooming — there’s an awful lot of grooming. We often get calls from children who could be 14 years old saying they’re talking to someone in their 20s.

“No child [is safe], it doesn’t matter from what background, if they have a phone, tablet or iPad, they are open to these dangers.”

Recruitment of part-time volunteers

As schools across the county are set to reopen their doors within days, Ms O’Sullivan said that Childline hope to recruit a range of part-time volunteers to assist with the expected high volumes of calls in Cork.

“We’re recruiting at the moment, with the hopes of starting training at the end of September,” said Ms O’Sullivan.

“We’re looking for volunteers for the Cork Childline Listening Unit, for a one four-hour weekly shift.

“Our Cork unit is open on a Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with other units across the country open on other days.”

For children who are seeking support, the Childline service is available 24/7, is 100% anonymous, and can be accessed online at www.childline.ie or by phone: 1800-66-66-66.

For parents seeking additional information, or looking to volunteer, visit www.ispcc.ie.