Friends and bullying big concern for young

Published: 10:10AM Wednesday January 21, 2009 Source: NZPA

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Relationship worries and bullying are the biggest concern for young people, a helpline says.

What's Up, a free telephone counselling service for young people, received more than 500,000 calls last year, though only 145,000 were able to be answered, the Dominion Post reported.

A 2008 summary of the helpline, showed that relationship problems and bullying were the biggest concern for callers.

More than 100 callers had suicidal thoughts or fears and others experienced regular physical abuse.

The biggest users of the helpline were 12 and 13-year-olds.

The helpline has been running since 2001, and receives about 1,400 calls a day.

What's Up relies on donations and grants, which limits the number of calls its counsellors could answer, says executive director Grant Taylor.

The service aims to provide early intervention and information, he says.

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