The charity helpline Kids Help Phone reports a record increase in the number of contacts from children and teenagers in Canada’s northern regions. In the first six months of the year, interactions with young people across the country rose by 24 per cent, with particularly sharp growth recorded in the northern territories.
The largest increase was in Yukon, where the number of contacts went up by 64 per cent compared with the same period last year. The Northwest Territories saw a rise of 25 per cent, and Nunavut 17 per cent.
According to Kids Help Phone president and CEO Rebecca Shields, the organisation is currently receiving a crisis text message roughly every 90 seconds. She notes a marked rise in contacts from children under the age of 12 who are talking about suicidal thoughts and a desire to end their own lives.
Kids Help Phone expects the number of contacts to grow further at the start of the school year. The service stresses that the problems young people are turning to them with are becoming increasingly complex: in addition to familiar difficulties at school and in relationships, there are now anxieties about the geopolitical situation, climate change, the development of artificial intelligence, the cost of living and the pressure of social media. All this is intensifying feelings of anxiety, hopelessness and loss of control over their own future.
According to the organisation, more than twice as many contacts are received at night as during the day – precisely when children and teenagers are most likely to be left alone with their thoughts. By publishing these statistics, Kids Help Phone hopes to attract more volunteers and donors in order to expand the helpline’s capacity.
Psychotherapist Anansia Leslie-Bailey, who has worked in the Northwest Territories and still counsels clients from the region, confirms that she is seeing a similar trend in her own practice. She notes that many factors are weighing on teenagers at the same time, making it harder for them to cope with stress. At the same time, the specialist considers it positive that more and more young people know about support services and are using them.
Kids Help Phone statistics show that 78 per cent of young people talk about their problems for the first time during contact with an online counsellor. Leslie-Bailey urges those experiencing mental health difficulties to seek help from helplines, school psychologists or online professionals, and advises parents to keep a closer eye on their children’s wellbeing and to talk with them about what they are going through.