Alex's Answer

Hi there and welcome to Ask Alex.  

Thank you so much for reaching out to us and trusting us with your thoughts. We know it can be a difficult thing to do, but we also know how great it is for young people to share their thoughts and their emotions. Talking about and sharing what is going on for you is a big step forward.  

We are sorry that you feel like you would like to switch families. It sounds like you are going through a very difficult time in your life, and here at Ask Alex, we believe that each person has the right to feel safe and happy within their family environment.  

It can be useful to talk to others about this. Would you have a trusted adult in your life that you could discuss it with at all? This can be a family member like parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or someone outside of the family like a teacher, neighbour, or sports coach. You might find that some of the adults you know may have gone through a similar situation when they were younger and would be able to give you advice. 

You can always contact Tusla – the Child and Family agency to discuss this further. It is their job to make sure all young people are safe and looked after in Ireland. If you would like information on how Tusla can help you, you can visit the Changing Futures website. You can access the website by clicking the link https://changingfutures.ie/. You can see how to get in touch with Tusla here; https://changingfutures.ie/contact. (This may require the help of an adult). 

Remember, you can always phone Childline on 1800 66 66 66 to talk about what is going on for you if you don’t feel ready to talk to someone in your life quite yet. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our text service, which can be reached on 50101 and Web Chat service through www.childline.ie, are also available daily. While we will not tell you what to do, we are here to listen to and support you, and to help you to explore the options that are available to you in your life. We are here to help you in a way that suits you.   

We hope that the information we have given you is useful.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any other questions.  

Take care,  

Alex