The booklet has a list of services where young people can get advice

Children 'should confront problems'

Thousands of booklets are being sent to secondary schools in Northern Ireland in an effort to encourage young people to talk about their problems. The NSPCC's “Someone to Turn to” campaign, which is being launched on Monday, aims to encourage children to confront and overcome difficulties.

The charity said it would offer advice on dealing with abuse, violence, bullying, racism, depression and other causes of concern. The booklet also provides information on services and organisations which can offer help.

The campaign, which is part of the NSPCC's Full Stop programme tackling child cruelty, follows fresh research by the charity which found that a third of children and young people were constantly worrying about something.

Common fears included being attacked, bullied and suffering bad treatment at home.

Ian Elliott divisional director of the NSPCC in Northern Ireland said the campaign provided support for young people, particularly if they felt they could not confide in their parents. “Research has shown that young people do experience a number of worries, problems and concerns which they have difficulty finding help with,” he said. “Many of them do not talk to people early enough about those difficulties. And talking about the problems is the first step in finding that help.”

The booklet has already been ordered by 55 secondary schools in Northern Ireland. A website to support the booklet has a unique facility so that a young person can hide what they are looking at with the click of a button. The site also tells children how to cover their tracks on the internet, so that no-one using the same computer can tell that the site has been accessed.

The promotional campaign is to feature celebrity supporters of the charity, while television advertisements will cover the themes of bullying and neglect.
 

20 January 2004
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3407729.stm

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