60% of calls to Childline unanswered

Three in every five calls to Childline went unanswered last year due to a shortage of volunteers, according to the latest figures from the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).

Of the total 639,968 calls made to the counselling service, more than 242,000 calls were answered by staff which represented an increase of 16 per cent on the number of calls answered in 2005.

The ISPCC said 16 per cent of all calls made to its service related to sexual issues, 3.2 per cent were about physical abuse, 4.2 per cent concerned sexual abuse and 4.1 per cent related to pregnancy.

The charity noted there were 692 one-to-one contacts made to the service to discuss the issue of suicide while its automated text service received 7,324 requests for support on the same issue.

In total the service received 5,049 calls relating to mental health issues which the ISPCC said highlighted a "concerning rise in mental health difficulties affecting children and young people".

"Children and young people have shown, through their use of the Childline service, that confidentiality, child-centredness and technology are some of the core components needed to ensure they feel confident enough to access and utilise these support options," it said.

There were 20,794 calls made to the service concerned issues surrounding sexuality, of these 3,606 calls related to information about sexuality and facts of life, 5,307 calls related to pregnancy, 2,416 calls related to sexual identity, 4,959 calls concerned atypical sexual behaviour.

The ISPCC said the high number of calls "illustrated the confusion that many young people are experiencing regarding sexuality issues".

It said it is becoming increasingly concerned that young people, in the absence of appropriate supports, are using the Internet to obtain information about these issues.

"This can leave vulnerable young people at risk of exploitation," it added.

The figures show the charity's automated text service received 100,852 texts in 2006. Pregnancy and facts of life were the most common reasons for a young people to access the text service.