Pat's Answer

Hello, you are very Welcome to Ask Pat.  

Thank you so much for your question, it is important to us. 

You are asking can you use the live message without your parents when you are 12 years of age. 

The answer to your question is Yes!  

A live message is a way of communicating with the Childline Team, over the Internet. You can do this on your tablet, laptop, smartphone or other device. Your parents can be with you, but you can also contact us on your own too. Childline is a safe place for young people to talk about whatever is going on for them. You do not need to have a problem to get in touch with us, but if you do have a problem, we are here for you then too.    

Here in Childline, when we are chatting on the phone or on our online services (LiveChat or Text), we always ask that you stick to just a first name, or a nickname. You do not give us any personal information like your family name, your home address or where you go to school. At Childline, we do not trace calls or use caller or IP IDs, so we do not know where you are contacting us from. Following these steps is how your chat stays private and confidential. We only know what you choose to tell us. We will not judge you, which means you are free to talk about anything you want, like what is going on for you now. We can talk through what options may be available to you. 

We do understand that sometimes it can be difficult to talk with our parents about certain things. If you have something that you may be finding difficult to talk to your parents about, how would you feel about talking to us at Childline? As well as the web chat at www.childline.ie, you can also phone Childline for free at 1800 66 66 66, or you can text us for free at 50101.  

Thank you for taking the time to ask your question. We hope to hear from you soon. 

Take care, 

Pat