Childline Avis 

I’ve never spoken on the phone to them but I’ve used their 121 chat thingy. You have to wait like a year to even get in and when you do it’s such a disappointment. I told the person on the other end my problems and how I was struggling and didn’t know what to do, and they, hadn’t a clue. They asked if I had anyone else to speak to, I said no, then they forwarded me crappy links. Huh!!? I asked them multiple times what I should actually do, and they didn’t have a clue. I HATE THEM!! OH MY GOD THEY ARE SO SH*T. Pls never ever EVERRRR use. So damn annoying, someone needs to take down that crappy website.

(About the 121 chats.) They are all shallow and dense. Stupid people. They ask stupid questions and don’t help. they make you explain then give crappy advice, send you a link or give you a shit technique to use, then make you end the chat. Was struggling with SH and thought I’d try ask for help to distract myself. They asked me stupid unrelated questions. I said I actually ended up hurting myself and they told me to just go clean up and come back another time. I felt so dismissed. Nobody actually cares, they all seem bored or like they’re in a rush. I’ve also tried again to talk to them for other issues. Again, it’s the same thing. NOBOSY USE, ITS CRAP AND WONT HELP!!!

iv used childline 2 or 3 times in recent years with high hopes about their service, however proven incredibly wrong every single time.

PLEASE do not expect much from these “councillors” or waste time on their 1-2-1 chats. after every single chat i ended up feeling worse, felt highly judged and dismissed. if your looking for advice, this is not the place to go. these people repeat everything back you, ask a couple of completely unrelated questions, throw out a couple links and call it a day! i was mid-conversation with a counsellor and out of nowhere the woman decided she’d got bored listening to me and decided to just end the chat abruptly whilst i was in the middle of typing.

plus they claim to have records of your previous chats or emails to councillors as there’s no guarantee that you’ll be assigned the same one, so i figured i didn’t have to repeat my situation every time i wanted to talk since it was really hard for me to open up about it. hell was i wrong!! was made to repeat everything id said in previous chats and this just made me end up feeling worse.

note: they call themselves a LISTENING service for a reason!! most of the staff are volunteers and can’t give any advice or a feeling of personal touch as they’re not qualified and simply have to stick to guidelines. the most you can expect is be given a couple of coping methods and the equivalent of a brick wall to talk to.
i find it appalling that they don’t make this clear enough and market themselves as literal therapy.

gave 2 stars because i know that there are some genuine people in there who actually try their best for the kids and the whole idea of childline is pretty great, only if it was utilised correctly.

I, an adult, accidentally called Childline, hoping to get help for my neighbour and her kids, who were suffering a difficult situation. I didn't know it was only for children to call. The woman on the other end was so horrible to me about being an adult calling, and so angry at me, that it put me off calling another charity - I was too scared. It had taken a lot of courage, as an abuse survivor myself, to try and reach out, even for someone else. A year later, I ended up having to call the police, and the kids were taken away from her. I could have **helped**, if I'd called the right charity sooner. I've been blaming myself, and my mental health is tanked, but that Childline counsellor is the right person to blame. She could have given me a different number, instead of shouting at me or getting angry that I had done something wrong.

I was talking about being unsure about possible abuse I was facing and they literally ended the chat without saying anything. They say they're here to help and they literally just ended the chat without helping.

Bad experience from the very start, Went to the website as I was having terrible anxiety because of a situation I wanted advice with and once I was asked for my name and age I typed out “Saoirse, 16” after about 5 minutes all I got was a “hi saoirse, can I get a name and an age?” ?????? Has to be automated bots no one is that dense, I then typed “my name is saoirse and I’m 16 years old” hoping to clarify things, another 5 minutes later no reply! Got one sentence in 10 minutes. Avoid at all costs if you’re looking for someone to listen to your problems and actually care, sheit website the old workers from a few years back actually knew how to do their job

I contacted when I was having a meltdown because of my anxiety. The advisor kept changing subjects every message they sent without acknowledging half of the issues I was struggling with and only fixating on my diagnosis not anything else I tried to address. After half an hour they randomly stopped the conversation and said 'i think it's time for you to go and reflect'. Reflect on WHAT?

I just want to say a massive thanks to Caitlin who i spoke to on a 1-2-1 chat on childline recently. She helped encourage me to be true to myself and come out to the people who love me and to open up about how i'm feeling to them. She was friendly, non judgmental and listened to everything i had to say. I would highly recommend to anyone feeling down or unsure if they should open up and cannot thank Caitlin and childline enough!

I was at my grandma’s and I called them while my grandma and mum were out because my mum was mentally abusing me and I was severely suicidal. I explained my situation and they basically said my mum was just trying her best and I was just getting annoyed with her because I was a teenager and it’s normal to go through that phase. Now, after a big court case and the police getting involved I live with my dad so they were wrong. This actually happened quite a few years ago but it will only let me select a date up to 12 months ago

Told them my uncle touches me in My no no square and they responded a whole 6 years later that I should enjoy it while it lasts thanks childline.

I was explaining to them about my home life situation and what is happening at home, and I said I needed help. The woman on the text line said "this is for listening only, we dont give advice." They literally advertise to ask them questions like pal what the hell. Do not, and I mean DO NOT use childline.

firstly, they dont offer you any help! i was told "childine doesn't tell you what to do, it just provides someone who can listen" like what??? i told them my dog could do this better.
theyre typing is SO SLOW! and the answers afterwards are generic and useless, like "have you tried talking to someone?" of course not, im talking to childline cos its apparently confidential and child friendly. literally same things repeated in every conversation. i asked them a question about porn, first thing they replied with (after absolutely ages!!) was "how old are you?" this made me feel like i had done something wrong, and the only thing they cared about was getting me into trouble. i was scared they'd tell someone if i said my real age. i promptly left.
fix your advice - google could do better! youre so generic! saying "i understand, can you expand more?" does not help! offer advice, then get someone to talk about their feelings! honestly, theyre coming to childline for advice from real people, and how to open up! fix now!!!
im gonna go and request a 121 chat, and then complain. cos i have real concerns that arent being addressed. might as well rant my problems on trustpilot.
thanks for reading all of this i know its long.

If you are looking for ADVICE for what to do in a situation you are in childline won’t help you. They avoid telling you what to do and will pretty much only nod along in agreement to what you say.

The 1-2-1 chats are a hit or mostly a miss. Some people are really lovely and I enjoy talking to them (rare), then others I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I understand these are volunteers but there is a clear lack of consistent standards within their training process.
The ‘advice’ they give is very basic such as talk to friends, speaking to a trusted adult, breathing exercises or rest. Often they just link you to a page on their website. Overall I never found speaking to them helpful, but what kept me coming back is the fact that there was someone there listening to my problems which is something I did not have in my life.

I’m an adult now and have accessed a service (paid but cheap prices for students) that’s really helping me. It’s isolating being a child looking for help, so I wish any struggling young person who’s reading this the best of luck in their journey.

This really help when I was left home alone they helped me stay calm because I can get stressed easily so it’s a really god idea I recommend it

I'm gonna be honest this is the time where my life was full on awful, I'm suicidal, have strong symptoms of depression and social anxiety and have done previous sh before, I called childline and the wait time was ridiculous, in the end I didn't even receive ways to help my mental health and just felt more like a vent line rather than an actual child support line. Big waste of time for me..

childline fvcking sucks. im on the verge of bringing a toaster with me into the bathtub and im trying to get help on childline. 1st of all it takes like 1 hour to connect to a councillor and when i actually do manage to call them they hang up after 2 minutes. by the time i even manage to connect to someone ill already be as dead in the bathroom as elvis presley. fix up u dumb fvcks

show interest and your not given a clue what they want .the trainers appear to be on a massive ego trip that they know it all . if you want to cease to be a hu man being and are happy to be an automaton then this is for you

I was waiting for 1 hour with a son that was breaking down with tears cosmic anxiety and waited 1 hour I am DISGUSTED

awful website. i overdosed 3 times and need medical help but they’re calling my mum instead of getting me help. im being abused at home so my parents won’t help me and im about to kill my self but childline are calling my abusers and getting me hurt even more.

To be honest I would rather give a zero stars. I am 16 and called about something important to me but because I already have social services I unfortunately wasted 30 minutes of my life talking to someone who had no idea what to do. I told her that social services are never around for me to contact even though they are supposed to be around every other week and my mum certainly won't tell me the phone number but Childline just told me that that was unfortunate. Childline is supposed to help people like me who have an emotionally abusive mother but instead they tell me to tell my social worker something I have already told them. CHILDLINE IS A DISGRACE AND YOU WOULD BE BETTER OFF NOT SAYING ANYTHING AT ALL!