Childline has a safeguarding problem

It is hard not to be increasingly concerned about the safeguarding of children at Childline, an arm of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). I believe that young, vulnerable and impressionable children are being exposed to worrying material, grounded in ideology, on the charity’s website.

Childline runs a message board which children can use to talk to each other about issues they are struggling with. The intention is for it to act as a form of peer support. But there appears to be inadequate safeguarding in place on its site.   

I looked at a random sample of messages in the ‘Gender Identity’ section of Childline’s message boards and was appalled by what I discovered.   

In a thread entitled ‘Passing and Gender Expression’, a young girl talks about wanting to ‘pass’ as a boy by wearing different clothing. Immediately, a response from another user tells the young girl that without cross sex hormones ‘it’ll be nearly impossible to pass’.