Krisenchat for Children: Inquiries due to conflicts increase during the holidays

For many children and young people, the Christmas season is less festive than stressful: family conflicts increase, expectations rise. Digital services like Krisenchat.de offer anonymous and free support around the clock – according to their own data, inquiries due to family conflicts increase there by around 150 percent during the holidays.

heise online spoke with Juliane Pougin, a member of the psychological leadership of Krisenchat.de, about these stresses and the role of digital help.

Founded during the Corona crisis, your counseling service has become a pillar of support for countless children and young people, which was also recognized with the German Child Protection Award. What journey has your project taken since its inception?

Juliane Pougin: We were founded during the Corona pandemic by the initiative of young people who were themselves affected and could no longer reach anyone in the crisis. Looking back five years, we see a need that we couldn't have imagined back then. Children and young people contact us in crises and are grateful that someone is always there for them. This need is not abating. We have about 3800 consultations per month and nearly 200,000 consultations since our founding. This shows what an enormous need there is, which we can often barely meet.

Many digital services, such as video consultations, have seen a decline again. However, your service seems to have consistently high demand. Have you filled a gap there?

Yes, for children and young people, we are pleasantly low-threshold and fit exactly with their habits. The younger generation orders pizza themselves via app rather than having to make a phone call. So, chat-based counseling is exactly what they want. Those who contact us once often return – not with the same problem, but because they had the positive experience that we help. It's a bit like a kiosk: you come in, describe your problem, and we show you where to find the right help on the shelf. We always look at who can best help locally and advise accordingly. The young people really appreciate that.

You're talking about Gen Z. What is the exact age distribution? Are there also significantly younger or older users than expected?

Our youngest user was nine years old – of course, you have to be able to write to communicate with us. We provide counseling up to and including the age of 24. We refer older individuals to other services, as our core competence lies with children and young people.

However, you cannot guarantee age and authenticity due to data protection?

We ask for the age at the beginning to be able to adjust to our interlocutor – you write differently with a 12-year-old than with a 22-year-old. We assume the person's honesty. We also ask for the name the person wishes to be addressed by. This is an important experience, especially for young people who identify as trans, to be addressed in their desired gender. Our system is pseudonymized: the counselors only see a sequential number, not the phone number, which is stored deep within the system. Data protection is our top priority; we have our own IT team for this.

What happens in extreme cases, for example, in cases of acute suicidal risk? Are there exceptions to anonymity?

Between 20 and 25 percent of our inquiries involve suicidal thoughts. We take this very seriously and assess the risk. If someone is acutely suicidal and cannot be de-escalated, our "on-call duty" kicks in – a specially trained special operations team that is available around the clock. Only this team is authorized to involve emergency services or the police and can therefore pass on the phone number to the authorities. We also inform about this on our website: when it comes to life and limb, there is an overriding state of emergency. However, we do not leave the young people alone but remain in contact until help arrives on site.

Do false reports occur often, where you alert the police and then nothing is there on site?

That happens extremely rarely. We also don't see such reports as "false alarms," but always as a cry for help. We hardly have any prank calls. Unfortunately, there is also the opposite, very rare case where help comes too late. This is very stressful for everyone involved, and we offer our employees supervision for this.

How does the increased demand over the holidays manifest itself?

When families are in close proximity during the holidays, conflicts often erupt. Different expectations clash – this greatly affects children and young people. This can start at the dinner table or during discussions about what one wants to do with their life. For young people, these are often bigger crises than we adults perceive them to be. We are then there as conversation partners, which can often be a relief.

In addition to everyday family conflicts, there is also the problem of domestic violence, which often goes unnoticed during holiday periods because channels like school are unavailable. Do you notice this as well?

Absolutely. We experienced this during the Corona period and are experiencing it during holidays and festive seasons. Important channels through which such things are reported are missing. I am a big fan of school social work, which for me is one of the most important things in the school system. When this point of contact is missing, we are an important contact person.

Do you increase staffing over the holidays?

Yes, we fill the shifts more densely. If we notice a sudden increase in inquiries, we can quickly activate additional volunteers through an internal channel. Since everything takes place online, helpers can also jump in at short notice for two or three conversations. Our volunteer shifts last only two hours, which makes us very flexible.

Can anyone volunteer with you?

No, we exclusively employ psychosocial professionals. These are individuals from the fields of psychology, social work, or related professions, as we are dealing with the particularly vulnerable group of children and young people.

Note: In Germany, you can find help and support for all kinds of problems, including issues related to bullying and suicide, at telefonseelsorge.de and by phone at 0800 1110111. The "Nummer gegen Kummer" (Children's and Youth Helpline) can be reached at 116 111. Austria also offers free support services, including the children's emergency number 0800 567 567 for children and Rat auf Draht at 147. The same phone number in Switzerland leads to Pro Juventute.

(mack)