More and more children with full-time working parents have nobody to talk to after school and are turning to helplines simply to chat.
More than 11,000 children who called the ISPCC's Childline service last year just needed somebody to talk to, according to the helpline's 1999 call statistics published yesterday.
The organisation's director of services, Ms Grace Kelly, said it was encouraging that over 26 per cent of the 99,416 callers just wanted to chat - it indicated the level of comfort and trust young people had in the service.
They called to discuss everyday matters such as their day at school, to bounce ideas off volunteers or to chat about things they didn't want to burden their parents with, she said. "Our ethos would be very much to help children to talk to their parents so we would encourage that," she added.
A total of 4,806 calls were in relation to sexual and physical abuse but, because of the ISPCC's mandatory reporting policy, very few callers gave their names. On the basis of information received, only 200 calls in relation to abuse could be referred for investigation to the authorities last year.
Children also called to discuss a range of other issues such as sexuality, pregnancy, relationships, loneliness, neglect, suicide risk, being followed, bereavement, and bullying.
The listening service operates 24 hours a day and it plans to employ professional staff to cover the lines for periods when difficulty has been experienced securing the services of volunteers.