Campaign Launched to Encourage Parents to Talk to Their Children

Railway Children, a leading children’s charity have joined with long term partner Aviva and are asking parents to tackle difficult conversations with their children to help prevent them running away from home.

Part of  the campaign to encourage parents to talk to their children is called ‘Aviva Conversations’  and invites parents to upload their most awkward conversations to raise awareness about the importance of open discussion at home and to assist Railway Children in raising support  for the most vulnerable children in society.

There are  around 100,000 runaways in the UK each year.  These are often a result of times of change and difficult issues such as death and divorce. Having conversations with children about these topics could help prevent the isolation that children feel during these times and prevent them from running away.

Railway Children and their long-term partner Aviva carried out  a survey which  reveals that more than one in four children admit to keeping worries  and concerns to themselves because they are too afraid to talk to their parents.

Also, 95% of parents  believe they are open to tackling difficult subjects, however the survey reveals that many parents aren’t  actually broaching topics such as family changes, divorce or death with their children.

Andy McCullough, Head of UK Policy & Public Affairs at Railway Children, said:

“Every five minutes a child runs away from home in the UK. That's 100,000 children under 16 every year. These children run away for a variety of reasons such as problems experienced at school, relationship issues or family breakdown.Not having someone to talk to about these problems can result in feelings of desperation and helplessness for a child, which could lead them to think about running away from home. For any parent, discovering that your child has run away from home is the worst possible nightmare. But talking to your child and having open conversations, regardless of how awkward they might be, may be all it takes to prevent them from considering running away from home.”

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