CHILDLINE: Educating our younger generation about healthy relationships will lead to safer communities

The NSPCC's Talk Relationships supports all UK secondary schools to confidently deliver inclusive sex and relationships education.

Childline counsellors know that relationships and sex are a constant source of worries for children and young people as they develop into young adults.

They are a natural part of human development, but it can be embarrassing for young people to ask for advice from adults, meaning they might resort to less-than-reliable sources for advice, which could lead to harmful experiences or behaviour.

The NSPCC, in partnership with Life Lessons has developed a new way to support schools to deliver relationship, sex and health education (RSHE), as part of its Talk Relationships programme.

Talk Relationships launched two years ago to help teachers in secondary schools here in the North East and across the UK to gain access to free resources and lesson plans, helping teachers to feel comfortable in delivering RSHE lessons.

The latest resources also include a framework for schools to set out eight components to a successful Whole-School Approach, examples of good practice and a snapshot tool, which will support teachers of millions of young people in secondary education to understand what makes healthy, happy relationships.

Educating our younger generation about healthy relationships will lead to safer communities in a wider sense. Behaviour change begins with conversation, understanding and education, so by developing these resources and giving young people the ability to identify signs of unhealthy relationships, we hope to reduce the number of victims suffering harm in later life, and even to divert young people from the criminal justice system and the impact that this can have on them.

Childline will always be available to children and young people whenever they need to speak to someone about a relationship issue, or if they are worried that they or someone they know might be in an unhealthy relationship.

Our counsellors can support young people whatever their concern and are available on 0800 1111 around the clock. If a young person does not feel comfortable talking to an adult, the moderated message boards on the Childline website are also a way for young people to speak to others their own age, and there are pages of advice available on our website to explore around all kinds of topics, including sex and relationships.