Cry for help

NST: EMOTIONAL neglect and depression appear to be the biggest problems among Malaysian children, if calls to the country’s first 24-hour helpline for children, 15999 Childline are anything to go by.
Forty per cent of the children calling the helpline had symptoms of psychosocial and mental health problems.
Of the 5,127 calls that Childline received since its launch on Nov 20 last year, 2,044 were from children who were bored, lonely, stressed or depressed, with some even having suicidal tendencies.
Some were as young as 4 — most were latchkey kids.
“It’s worrying because it is a reflection of parental neglect somewhere along the line. If a child calls a stranger to talk about what is bothering him, then he is obviously not communicating with his parents or someone he can trust.
“It is not a good sign. It shows that they have no one else to turn to as their parents or those around them are not giving them the support they need,” Childline Malaysia chairman Sabri Abdul Rahman told the New Sunday Times.
He said the majority of calls to Childline came from children seeking support for depression, loneliness, emotional neglect, stress and boredom.
Some are in the care of siblings who may be just slightly older, as they come from families who cannot afford childcare services. And when these children are left to fend for themselves, they often feel fear and anxiety. Some of the children are bored or lonely and call 15999 just to chat with someone.
These calls reinforce the findings of the Health Ministry's Third National Health and Morbidity Survey 2006 that the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in children and adolescents aged between 5 and 15 had risen from 13 per cent, to 20.3 per cent in 10 years.
Stress related to poverty, poor parenting, deplorable living conditions, bullying, exposure to domestic violence, sexual abuse, divorce in the family, death of a parent, discrimination and other hardships have all been linked to mental health problems.
Sabri said children who were subjected to abuse and violence made up the second largest group of callers to 15999, with 1,054 callers. In these cases, the nearest district Welfare Department office was immediately alerted.
He said the encouraging response to this helpline for children and the support provided brought hope to many children in the country.
"We are happy with the response because from not having a line, we now have 5,000-odd children calling us to talk about their problems. Even if one child is removed from an unsafe environment or offered assistance, we are happy."
The Childline support officers are trained to handle the calls and help allay the fears of children with words of encouragement and advice. Sometimes, the callers are referred to non-governmental organisations that can help counsel them.
The Malaysian Children TV Programme Foundation, of which Sabri is chairman, is financing the Childline team, for the promotion and outreach to children while the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry provides financing for the 15999 call centre.
Childline Malaysia works closely with the United Nations Children's Fund.
Childline, which is affiliated to Child Helpline International, complements the existing 15999 Talian Nur helpline.
While Talian Nur is a helpline for victims of domestic violence or other forms of abuse, children calling the helpline will automatically be diverted to a Childline support officer.
Sabri stressed that the aim of Childline was to empower and encourage children to speak up about their problems.
For next year, Childline Malaysia plans to go big in the new media to connect with a wider group of children.
"Children these days are IT savvy, so, we want to get into this space and connect with them on their rights and on safety issues via Twitter and Facebook. We are working on a Child Online Protection awareness campaign with DiGi and Cyber Security to promote this helpline in schools and we hope to engage more telcos in this programme next year.
"We are also working with other NGOs, parent-teacher associations and groups like Teach For Malaysia where we conduct workshops on children's rights and child protection so that they can take it to the schools."