Analysis of data from more than 3400 young people aged 10–18 showed that young people are not as likely to report unsafe behaviour from peers than they would report unsafe behaviour from adults.

The people they are most likely to turn to are their mum, followed by a trusted friend and then their dad to reveal situations that put them at risk. Only 25% or less would tell adults in child-safe organisations. These findings are based on surveys that are part of the Children and Young People Survey project that works with youth-serving organisations in a range of sectors to learn from the children and young people about how safe they feel, and from the workforce about how confident they are in their safeguarding capabilities.

These findings have big educational implications. Clearly more work is needed to improve communication between children and young people about their right to respectful behaviour. And while many organisations such as schools, out-of-home care, sport, and religious settings are adopting child safe standards and training staff, children are not going to staff because they may feel their concerns won’t be dealt with properly. There's so much more to do to help children trust adults enough to seek help.