Hi im 14 years old and my brother is nearly 16 now. my brother and i often fight just earlier today he started to strangle me and started repeatedly punching me in the face whilst my mum stood there and watched. my parents never do anything about it and my brother is their favourite child and they hate me. whenever me and my brother fight my parents always blame it on me and say "he is under alot of stress doing GCSE's" my brother always hurts me he strangles me, hits me, throws stuff at me, when he is angry for example he threw a glass at me which smashed on the wall behind me when i ducked, he has also broken my finger by bending it back and broke my nose hitting me. My parents dont care about me my dad also drinks alot and gets angry and threatens me, he also hates me and even said "No-one in this house ***ing likes you *** off"
Sam
Hi,
Thank you for your letter. It sounds like you’re going through a really difficult time at the moment and you did the right thing to reach out for some help. You deserve to be safe in your own home and to be treated with love, respect and kindness.
What your brother is doing to you is physical abuse. This is wrong and it’s also a crime. If one adult did this to another in the street they could be arrested for physical assault. No matter what your brother is going through or what his problems are, it is never okay for one person to hurt another person in the way you describe. Being punched, strangled, hit and having your fingers broken isn’t just very frightening it’s also very dangerous. You have the right to be safe and what is happening is not your fault. I’m very concerned to hear that your parents aren’t helping you and are talking to you in such an unkind way. Telling you no-one likes you is emotional abuse, and it is not acceptable. Your parents have a responsibility to protect you from any kind of harm and I’m seems like they are really letting you down at the moment.
You’ve done really well in explaining things at home to me. Do you think that you might be able to talk to another trusted adult about this too? This could be another relative, a teacher, a school counsellor, a youth worker or even your doctor. They should all be able to give you support in getting the right help so you are protected from this kind of abuse. You could also contact social services yourself. They support families to make sure that children and young people are safe from harm. Depending on your circumstances, there are different ways that they can help you. Perhaps you can come and talk to a ChildLine counsellor about this a bit more? You can either call them on 0800 1111 or by logging on for a 1-2-1 chat. There is also a lot of other information about physical and emotional abuse in Explore, including advice on where you can get help and how. Remember if you ever feel in immediate danger you can also always call the police on 999.
You deserve to be safe and cared for properly and asking for help can often be the first step to that happening. You don’t have to go through this all on your own anymore. ChildLine is here for you and the counsellors want to listen, help and support you in whatever you decide to do.
I hope this helps
Take care,
Sam
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