You can usually laugh heartily with and/or about actor Wayne Carpendale (43), because he runs one of the most entertaining celebrity Instagram accounts, in which he effortlessly and self-deprecatingly follows his family life with presenter Annemarie Carpendale (42) and soon two-year-old son. But every now and then he uses the reach of his platform for serious news. So it happened again: This time the “number against grief” is a real concern for him.
“Number against grief. Especially these days: For all children, adolescents and parents who need someone to talk to, ”he writes for a 20-minute clip in which he is based on the work of the non-profit organization“ Nummer gegen Kummer eV (NgK) ” in Wuppertal including the free numbers “Child and Youth Telephone 116111” as well as “Parent Telephone 0800 111 0 550” and e-mail address. In the clip you can see his interesting phone call with consultant “Anna Zacharias, who has been working for the ‘Number Against Heartache’ for over eleven years now”.
Basically, the big concern of children is often “that the problem is not big enough”. But that is “nonsense”, says Zacharias, you can call with all questions, worries and grief. “There is actually no problem that is too small or too big for us”. And even if the topic of corona is currently very common, experience has shown that every problem is very individual. “With us there is no scheme F advice”.
The most common questions they are currently getting are about school and transfer, seeing friends again, dealing with annoying siblings, sports. But there are also many questions of a medical nature and “a form of fear of the future”, the consultant also notes.
How can counselors help with domestic violence or sexual abuse? “When children call, you can reinforce their feeling that something is wrong,” says Zacharias. This would give them an emotional relief: “It is good that I have communicated and my feeling is not deceiving me.” In extreme and acute cases “a counselor would encourage the child to report this”. The police are still active. “We do not report this ourselves because we are an anonymous offer. That’s why the children call us, ”she continues.
You can also “write completely anonymously”, which is sometimes easier, especially in a cramped domestic situation. There is also the offer “on Saturdays from 2 to 8 p.m.” to speak to us when we are older than that “. This is now the “most popular call day”. “The adolescent counselors may have just had heartache and survived it well,” is one of the thematic examples for such conversations among peers.
There is also a “parent’s phone” for “number against grief”. These discussions are currently all about what can be done so that the children do not fall on the covers. The counselor advises that the children should “not be locked up”. Carpendale confirms that some parents would think so. “It’s also a little bit because of this ‘Stay at home’ campaign, which I participated in. To convey this was “very important” at the beginning, but now there are “rules and we can get out”.
Carpendale calls for information about the rules at the respective place of residence. “Especially for your kids. They don’t have to stay locked up at home now ”. The consultant also confirms this. “Yes, this is very important information that you can still go to the door. Children have a natural urge to move and you have to do that, otherwise, they will demolish the booth, ”says Anne Zacharias. “Stay at home” refers to corona parties, the distance when shopping, etc. Cycling, forest walks, etc. are possible.
Then the expert tells a little story from her own family: The larger curve that her children now have to avoid around other people is what they call “the Corona curve” within the family.
