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Old heads on young shoulders

Helping children and young people whose family circumstances force them into adult roles

Front cover of Old heads on young shouldersBy ChildLine and the NSPCC (March 2006)

Old heads on young shoulders: helping children and young people whose family circumstances force them into adult roles (PDF, 1.6MB) looks at why children who call ChildLine are forced to take on adult roles, how this affects them, and what can be done to help. In particular, it looks at the positive effects of confidential, child-centred approaches to helping children and young people.

Why children are forced to develop old heads on young shoulders

Analysis of ChildLine's caller statistics from 2004/05 indicates that there are five key reasons why children who call ChildLine take on too much responsibility at too young an age:

  • the ill health or disability of one or both parents
  • parental drug or alcohol misuse
  • separation and divorce
  • domestic violence
  • bereavement.

The severity of these problems can differ widely, but for many of the children who call ChildLine, there is a need to take responsibility for things that, by common consensus, children should not have to worry about: tending to their parents' health (often missing school to do so), preparing meals for younger brothers and sisters because one or both parents is too incapacitated by alcohol or drugs, and even earning the money necessary to put food on the table. Many of the children performing these tasks also strive to keep up the appearance of a  'normal' childhood to the outside world. This desire to keep up appearances often results from a strong urge to protect their parents from trouble and to keep the family from being broken up - even if a chaotic home life is causing untold problems for the children themselves.

Many of the children who speak to ChildLine about the adult roles they must take on communicate an impressive understanding of the complexity of factors that can contribute to their parents' inability to care for them as they should. Even young children often possess a sophisticated understanding of how multiple issues interact and compound the difficulties they, their parents and their families are experiencing. For example, many young people talk about factors such as bereavement, unemployment or divorce leading to parental substance abuse or depression, which then lead to poor parenting and to young people having to adopt adult roles.

This report relates the stories of these young people, showing how a confidential, child-centred service such as ChildLine is able to help them, but at the same time flagging up situations where much more needs to be done. In looking at what these children tell us and how we help them, this report will highlight both the resilience and vulnerability of children and young people, while also exploring how ChildLine and other agencies can improve their lives.

Full report:

ChildLine and the NSPCC (2006)  Old heads on young shoulders: helping children and young people whose family circumstances force them into adult roles (PDF, 1.6MB)   London: NSPCC.
ISBN: 0952494892.

Buy Old heads on young shoulders from NSPCC Publications

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