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Summary: Report from child helplines reveals findings of children's health and wellbeing.
[18 November 2011] - Data collected by child helplines in nine of the world’s highest ranking Human Development Index (HDI) nations (in 2010) shows that children and young people in well-developed nations are highly prone to boredom and have higher suicidal and self-harming tendencies. This is despite the greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and healthcare, secure livelihoods, social and cultural freedom and safety, which should indicate a good quality of life in these highest ranking HDI countries. The collated data, from child helplines in Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Germany, shows that an alarming number of children in the world’s top HDI nations suffer from psychosocial and mental health issues. In 2010 alone, the child helplines in these nations recorded 265,000 contacts about psychosocial and mental health issues alone. Every hour, 30 children contacted child helplines about psychosocial and mental health matters. Children and young people trust and voluntarily contact child helplines for assistance and support. They are willing to share their problems with counsellors at child helplines even when they hesitate to speak with their parents, teachers or close friends. Child Helpline International (CHI) is the global network of child helplines, working to protect the rights of children. CHI has 155 member child helplines in over 135 countries worldwide and collects and collates data from them on the reasons why children contact them and more. Taken together, this data represents a wealth of direct and unadulterated information and gives not only unprecedented insights into the issues children face, but also helps to highlight gaps in child protection on national and regional levels. Child helplines in the nine high level HDI countries dealt with over 48,000 contacts about suicidal tendencies last year, and more than 38,000 cases of self-harm. Alas, the data presented above is merely the tip of the iceberg. Not all children and young people contact child helplines when they face problems. Still, the figures are representative of the problems faced by children in high HDI level countries. The data underscores the need to further strengthen psychosocial and mental health services in developed countries to prevent suicide and deliberate self-harm amongst children and young people. Further Information:
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Briefing Paper 1 - CHI - High HDI High PSMH.pdf