ISSUES
: Body Confidence
Chapter 2: Self-esteem
38
Children’s confidence destroyed by
social media
ChildLine says young people have been coming forward in their droves to confide
just how desperate, alone and sad they feel.
By Paul Cardwell
T
he confidence of children
living in Scotland is being
destroyed by a constant
onslaught from cyber-bullying and
social media.
Marking its 30th anniversary,
ChildLine said today’s young
people are finding it difficult to cope
with the pressures of modern life,
creating a generation plagued by
loneliness and low self-esteem.
The counselling service said in
2014–15 it held 35,244 counselling
sessions across the UK for children
with low self-esteem, an increase of
9% from the previous year.
One of the biggest influences it said
was social media and the desire to
copy celebrities as they strive to
achieve the “perfect” image.
One 13-year-old girl told counsellors
the pressure to keep up with her
peers had led her to hate herself
and she rarely left her bedroom.
She said: “When I look at other girls
online posting photos of themselves
it makes me feel really worthless
and ugly.
“I’m struggling to cope with these
feelings and stay in my bedroom
most of the time. I’m always
worrying about what other people
are thinking of me. I feel so down.”
It’s not just girls that are struggling
though.
A 14-year-old boy told the service
how lonely he felt.
He said: “I don’t really have many
friends in real life and spend a lot of
time in my bedroom on my laptop.
“I don’t have much confidence in
myself and I feel as if my life is really
depressing.”
Peter Wanless, chief executive of
NSPCC which operates ChildLine,
said it was clear from the hundreds
of thousands of calls it receives that
we have a nation of deeply unhappy
children.
He said: “The pressure to keep up
with friends and have the perfect
life online is adding to the sadness
that many young people feel on a
daily basis.
“The worries that young people
face and the way they talk to us
have dramatically changed since
ChildLine was launched, and we will
change to make sure that no matter
what, young people will have a place
to turn to whenever they need it.”
Since its launch in 1986, ChildLine,
which has centres in Aberdeen
and Glasgow, has helped over four
million children via its round the
clock service.
Back at the beginning, children
were mostly concerned about family
planning problems and sexual
abuse.
Children exclusively made contact
by telephone – street corner boxes
or home lines – or freepost letter
but last year fewer than one in three
counselling sessions took place via
phone.
In fact, 71%of sessions involved one-
to-one chat or email and last year
was the third in a row that ChildLine
has counselled more young people
online than by phone, as the trend to
reach out via the Internet continues.
Wanless added: “Times may change
but one thing stays the same – our
vital helpline is often the only place
that many young people feel they
can turn to.”
7 January 2016
Ö
The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from Third Force News. Please
visit
uk for further information.
© Third Force News 2016
