Childline launches mental health campaign aimed at boys as they are less likely to talk about mental health issues than girls

rabel111 · 2022-03-22T00:43:49+00:00

Childline is a volunteer counselling service for children in the UK, run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). This most recent campaign to encourage boys to use the service, acknowledges that about 65% of services are provided to girls, and only 16% to boys. This shocking gender bias is consistent with child helpline services in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where up to 80% of services are provided to girls, and the numbers of services provided to boys is steadily decreasing over time.

The common response to this shock gender bias in child counselling service provision, is to blame boys. Headlines like "mental health campaign aimed at boys as they are less likely to talk about mental health issues than girls", are almost universal.

What these services fail to disclose is that boys are not reluctant to talk about their emotional and mental health issues, but are reluctant to talk to people who are dismissive of their experiences, demeaning in their responses, or lack empathy to their unique masciline experience of mental and emotional health. As childline's own case studies recite (decribed in the OP's cited article).......

"I confided in someone at work that I wasn’t doing very mentally and they didn’t reply to my message. I feel really embarrassed about telling them how I was feeling",

"I would love to speak openly about it with my mum, but we've never had that sort of relationship and I fear she wouldn't believe me or take me seriously",

These two selected case studies (decribed in the OP's cited article) do not show boys who are reluctant or incapable of talking about their emotional and mental health, but boys who have been rebuffed/ignored by those they would otherwise have confided in. They want to talk but have no-one they can talk to.

Notwithstanding these calls for help, the feminist trained counsellors and supervisors of the Childline service state that the problem with counselling boys is that "it can be really challenging for boys due to the pressures they feel around not showing emotion and appearing strong due to toxic masculinity". This convenient stereotyping of boys as emotionally mute, places all the fault on boys, an approach that is cruel, unreasonable and not supported by any evidence (other than feminist based ideological studies).

The use of feminist hate speech ("toxic masculinity"), the refusal to look beyond the feminist framing of masculinity as a fundamentally flawed and harmful doctrine, and the clear intention of blaming boys for the failure of the service to engage with boys, reveal the real reason why the service is failing boys, and most likely causing real harm. The services are inherently hostile to boys, and incapable of empathises or hearing the stories these boys are so desparate to tell.

Other issues the NSPCC might investigate are the entrenched culture of misandry and gender bias that infests it's services and policies, or the gender inequity in it's service providers. With a workforce that is 70% female (higher for counsellors), many of whom are active feminists with hostile attitudes to men and boys, it's no wonder Childline continues to fail UK boys.

Allevil669 · 2022-03-21T23:05:27+00:00

Pardon my cynicism...

This won't be used for it's stated purpose. This will be used, almost exclusively, to prosecute the boys who mistakenly think it's there to help them. Just like the mensline I read about in Australia, where they blame the man for everything they're complaining about.

Neppy_sama · 2022-03-22T09:24:37+00:00

Sus line here. They will brainwash them to be a feminist minion which hates their own gender.

LW_YT · 2022-03-22T18:13:08+00:00

speedrun: getting your campaign taken down by an incoherent government because you're "sexist" UK% (you're not sexist)

doggosrbabies · 2022-03-22T17:33:26+00:00

kinda wholesome

MrElderwood · 2022-03-22T21:50:41+00:00

Wow, a positive story! (I hope!)

Very well done Childline!! (If they actually follow through properly!)

Title	Childline launches mental health campaign aimed at boys as they are less likely to talk about mental health issues than girls
Author	Heavy_Grand2526
Upvotes	108
Comments	40
Date	March 21, 2022 8:31 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/tjl8zp/childline_launches_mental_health_campaign_aimed/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/childline-launches-mental-health-campaign-aimed-at.1108196 https://theredarchive.com/post/1108196

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