Children and young people across the UK are not being heard. To help combat the problem BT has launched a fundraising drive in aid of ChildLine, the first phase of which saw S Club kick off a children's record attempt for the World's longest whisper. We spoke to Esther Rantzen ChildLine Chair about the initiative known as 'Am I Listening?'

Why have BT and ChildLine launched this campaign?
"ChildLine has shown over the past 16 years that a telephone helpline can reach children in a unique way. Since our launch in 1986 ChildLine has comforted and protected more than one million children - for some, we were literally a lifeline. But of the 4,000 children who call ChildLine every day, only around half will be able to get through - simply because we need more funds to open more lines. Many children have to call several times before getting through to the help they need - tragically some may give up altogether.

The campaign aims to give young people and youth a voice in society and help lead to a real, measurable change in attitude - both amongst adults and businesses - regarding the difference they can make."

Will there be any special events to launch the campaign?
"The first major event staged was with S Club who helped us whisper a message to the first child in a 250-metre ring of 365 children - one for each day of the year that ChildLine's helpline is open. The children then whispered the message to each other until it came full circle back to S Club - setting a Guinness World Record for the Longest Whisper in the process. It was great fun!

The aim of the attempt was to ensure that the voices of the UK's children are heard by urging adults and organisations to listen to them. It did just that and helped to move the charity closer to its goal of answering every call. A freephone donation line, 0800 10 1996, has been set up for the public to call."

Where do youngsters get information from these days?
"Research highlights how adults and young people communicate. Although the Internet, mobile phones and text messaging are becoming more prevalent, newspapers and radio are twice as likely to be a source of information for children and young people. Startlingly adults seem to have lost touch with the way children receive their information."

What stops children talking to adults?
"Findings have highlighted some marked differences between the issues that young people want to speak out about and the issues that adults believe they are interested in. The main barriers that stop children talking are: embarrassment (87%), getting into trouble (66%) and not wanting to get someone else into trouble (58%). Sadly the key issues for adults are time."

So what can be done to try and prevent lack of communication for the future?
"It is important for adults to realise that 78% of kids surveyed said that they felt parents and guardians were a dependable source of information. Family nights together, encouraging talking and listening and having young advisors/counsellors in schools were all highlighted by the children asked, as ways to improve communication."

Interesting Facts and Figures

• BT has been committed to ChildLine since it was founded, by supplying the charity with its memorable freephone number, 0800 1111. BT is featuring the freephone number and a call for support in some 10,000 kiosk advertisements.
• Since its launch in 1986 ChildLine has helped over 1 million children. However, 42% of those that called did not get through to the help they required.
• Only 57% of children and young people agree that adults listen to young people and act on what they hear.
• 61% of children and young people agree that they have the right to say what they think as opposed to 27% of adults.
• 78% of young people said that parents/guardians are an important source of information (adults said 73%).
• 88% of adult women think that listening to young people is very important as opposed to 78% of men.
• The best listeners are friends (89%).

Both groups agreed that listening to children and young people could:

• Improve understanding between adults and young people (children 80% adults 67%).
• Improve the confidence of young people (children 67% adults 55%).
• Help resolve problems (children 64% adults 59%).

Top six most important issues for children and young people to talk about are:

1. Bullying (65%)
2. Sex and relationships (58%)
3. Problems with school (53%)
4. Coping with a death in the family (44%)
5. Abuse (43%)
6. Drugs (39%)

Barriers that stop children talking to adults (according to children) are:

• they feel embarrassed (87%)
• they think they might get into trouble (66%)
• they don't want to get someone else into trouble (58%)

Top five things young people believe they should have a say on are:

1. How schools could improve things (73%)
2. How to have more fun as a family (63%)
3. How police treat young people (62%)
4. How the council could improve local services (61%)
5. How we could improve our home life (56%)

Further information on the "Am I Listening" campaign can be found at www.bt.com/listening

"ChildLine's free 24 hour helpline for children to call is 0800 1111"

Adults are out of touch with how young people get their information.

• Parents/guardians are valued as a more important source of information than adults realise - 78% of c&yp say they are a source of information (adults said 73%)
• TV news, newspapers and the radio are almost twice as likely to be a source of information for children and young people than adults believe:

For further findings see www.bt.com/betterworld