Could you be the help at the end of the line?
Childline and its volunteers offer a variety of ways to get in contact, writes .
While most twenty-somethings are getting ready for a night on the town or cosying up on the couch for a Netflix binge, 24-year-old Megan Sarl from Cobh, Co Cork, gives up her Saturday evening to volunteer at Childline, the national listening service for children and young people.
For the past five years, she has worked a four-hour shift on the phones at the ISPCC offices in the city, listening to children and young people who, for one reason or another, are struggling on that particular day and have found the courage to reach out.
Megan, who also works full-time as a youth worker in Scala in Blackrock, went along to an information evening about volunteering just after finishing her Leaving Cert. “I always wanted to work with young people or children so Childline seemed the ideal place,” she explains.
It involves a particular skillset, but there’s a lot of training and ongoing support once in the role, she says. Being patient and having the ability to listen are prerequisites, but you also have to have an interest in those you are trying to help.
“You can’t be closed-minded or judgmental,” she says. “You have to have an interest in a young person’s rights and value them as a person.” Things have changed dramatically in the five years that she’s worked at Childline, including how people engage with the service — there has been a steady move towards people getting in touch online or via text. On the website, there’s a ‘Chat to Us’ button which can be accessed between 10am and 4pm (phone service is manned 24 hours a day) or there’s a freetext number: 50101.
“You have to move with the times,” says Megan.
“There are easier ways to get in contact now, sometimes people find it hard to talk or feel that they are not safe to do so — they may prefer to go online or to text us. It’s 60% calls, 40% online or text — and online is busier than texts.”
Childline aims to empower, support, and protect young people, and is there for those who have a particular problem or may just want to talk. Teenagers have always had to deal with stress, particularly from their peers, but today’s young people face inordinate pressures: To do well at school, to fit in, to have the ‘right’ look or phone, to get enough ‘streaks’ on Snapchat or followers on Instagram.
Social media provides young people with a tool to engage and make friends, but it can also be used to bully, harass and abuse.
“Five years ago, calls were generally focused on mental health, abuse in the home, and bullying. In the past two years, there has been a surge of calls relating to people being abused by their peers online — bullying on Snapchat, [Facebook] Messenger, and trolling. There has also been rise in young people getting in contact with relationship problems — sexting has become a huge issue among young people,” says Megan.
“Our job is not to give advice, just to listen. That’s what we do — we are non-judgmental and confidential but we can’t tell people what they should do. What we can do is offer them a chance to be heard, to be listened to, to share how they feel.
Over 6m calls have been made to Childline in its 30 years and demand is increasing all the time. More volunteers are always required.
There are particular times of year when it’s extra busy. On Christmas Day, there were 50 volunteers across the country dealing with 1,020 calls, texts, and webchats. They managed to respond to 70% of them, but nobody knows the outcome for the 30% who didn’t get through.
Childline is always here to listen. If any child has had a negative experience online or is concerned about anything they have read or seen, call us on 1800 666666 or chat online at https://t.co/nlyPs61hR9
— ISPCC (@ISPCCChildline) January 26, 2018
Megan has high praise for the training she’s received. “The Childline training course is a extremely good and takes place over a two-month period. Everyone has skills that they can bring to Childline but what the training course does is highlight those skills even more. You gain skills in listening, how to become a good listener. You learn about children’s rights and the life of a child and teenagers.
The course is very practical. There is a lot of role plays and practice. You learn how to empower a child and how to engage with them in a non-judgmental and child-centred way.”
Megan admits it can be a high-pressure environment — particularly if the phones are buzzing while you have someone in need on the line, but that’s all part of the job at hand.
“Am I under pressure? Well, yes and no. You have to weigh it all up. You can’t a rush a person on the phone because there’s another call coming in. Every call is different, takes a different length of time — you could be on for five minutes, or an hour; it varies. You just have to be there.”
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