In 2024, the Safety Line celebrates 30 years of helping children and adolescents in crisis situations. It was established in 1994 as the second helpline of its kind in Europe. Since then, it has received and handled more than 10 million contacts - by phone, in writing or online.

The 10 million contacts handled since the establishment of the helpline do not represent the total number of clients, but indeed individual contacts. Some clients remain anonymous, some contact the helpline repeatedly, some may even call from multiple numbers, or make use of phone, email or chat crisis intervention options.  

In addition, more than 35,000 additional children have received counselling from the Lifeline prevention project since its inception in 2011. At the same time, thousands of people are constantly drawing information from articles, blogs or podcasts available on the Safety Line website, which receives 2 400 visits a day.

Since the start of the helpline, clients have mostly dealt with problems related to partner and peer relationships, family situations and issues during adolescence. However, in the last eight years or so, psychological problems have also started to come to the fore, and now account for more than a third of all topics handled by Safety Line. They are mainly dominated by the ‘sub-themes’ of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. The issue of eating disorders is also growing significantly. However, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is also the issue of fear of illness or hospitalisation or concern for loved ones. After the start of the war in Ukraine, fear of armed conflict was also added.

Over the last two decades, the frequency of helpline contacts has gradually decreased, for example, in relation to tobacco use, sexual maturation (including unwanted pregnancies) or concerns about school performance. The topic of sexual identity has emerged more recently in the past decade, and around 2007 the topic of Internet problems, which was not known to children in the early days of the helpline, began to increase.

In addition to its crisis intervention services, Safety Line addresses issues in the online space in a separate section of its Internet counselling service. In this section, visitors can learn how to deal with the phenomenon of nudes, bans, hating or forms of cyberbullying. In addition, it publishes regular podcasts on safe movement in cyberspace, for example, on shopping in online games.

Find more information about the work of the Czech Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services, or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.