Need help straight away?
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
Hi there,
ChildLine is anonymous and confidential this means you dont need to tell anyone that you're signing up for an account or that youre talking to us. ChildLine is a private space where you can talk about things you dont feel able to say to anyone else and this can include your parents if you wish.
There are a couple of times when we need to find out who you are. If someone talks to a counsellor, posts on the message boards or sends me a letter through Ask Sam we think very carefully about whether that persons life is in danger and whether we need to do something to help. Most of the time we dont need to, but sometimes we do. You can read about our confidentiality promise if you want to know more about that.
If were going to keep what you say private, then you can also keep it private if you want. Its your decision whether you tell your parents or not, and thats absolutely fine.
There are steps you should take if you want to keep your visit or call to ChildLine hidden. If youre talking on the phone then your call is free and wont show up in your phone bill on most networks. You do need to still remember to remove it from the recently dialled phone numbers on the handset itself though.
If youre talking to us online then using things like private browsing tabs and clearing your history is important. Nothing you say to ChildLine online is ever stored on your phone or computer there are no logs that are saved on your end. We have a cover your tracks section which has more detail about this.
I hope that answers your questions, Our counsellors are ready and waiting to hear from you when youre ready.
Take care,
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.