The Effect of Divorce on Children

The number of UK children calling the national helpline Childline because they feel lonely has risen sharply. From April 2008 to March 2009, 5,525 children called the helpline due to loneliness, sadness or isolation, compared to 1,853 five years earlier. A further 4,399 children were counselled about loneliness as an additional problem, bringing the total to 9,924 - 6% of calls to the helpline. Counselors say changes within families and society could be behind the rise. Childline counsellors say changes within family structures and society as a whole could be behind the rise in these calls. ”Everyone’s so busy all the time,” said one counselor. ”The fact that families and people in general increasingly don’t eat together, and then go off and do their own things… I think that social skills among younger people are not being encouraged,” said another. They also suggest the rise may also be down to youngsters being better able to talk about feelings of loneliness. ”Some of the children who contact Childline are lonely because their parents are rowing or divorcing. Others are lonely because someone they love has died.