There has been a 33% increase in calls to the NSPCC Helpline since the Baby Peter incident. Over 11,000 of these, in the year to March, were referred to police and/or social work departments.
I welcome this increase because it shows people are now more aware of their responsibility to report their concerns, rather than turning a blind eye.
Last week it was reported the number of boys phoning Childline has more than doubled in the past 5 years. Some 12,568 called about bullying, while 6,403 rang about physical abuse and 4.780 about sexual abuse. In total some 58,311 young males used the service last year.
It pleases me to hear boys are no longer afraid to ask for help. Long may it continue and then we may finally be rid of the 'big boys don't cry' myth.
Posts
5 comments:
A lot to be got rid of, Subrosa. I welcome any start.
I'm wary of these trends Subrosa. I remember in the eighties and nineties families and communities were wracked by accusations of "satanic ritual abuse" - SRA. For awhile it seemed that this was going on everywhere and anyone that questioned the veracity of the outlandish and fantastic allegations was suspected of being "one of them".
Searching out, exposing, and prosecuting folks alleged to be involved in SRA became a virtual industry. There were "therapists" who did a roaring trade in "discovering" so called "repressed memories" of SRA in children unfortunate enough to be referred to them for "treatment".
So let's caw canny and see what develops.
Me too Oldrightie.
Scunnert, I see what you mean but my main point in the post was that more boys are asking for help.
Yes I do remember the island SRA business and I actually felt ashamed to be Scottish initially then I realised how much our voices aren't heard after various information was 'leaked' to the public.
Hopefully, in this day of technology, we would never allow this type of unsound evidence to be credited in our society ever again, but I do have my doubts.
So many families lives were torn apart and yes, let's go slow.
But it is good news that male children are asking for help nowadays.
Aye OR, we've a lot to do to allow children to express their emotions.
Post a Comment