Who can you confide in?
…when your father or mother is in prison?
Situations like that can make you feel bad. You might feel as if they’d just left you, or maybe you feel angry, helpless, or let down. You’re not the only one to feel that way! There are thousands of other children and teenagers here in Germany who’ve had the same experience. The big question is: how can you deal with the situation in a way that leaves you feeling fairly well and under less pressure? It might be a good idea (and probably one you’ve already had yourself) to talk to your family and good friends you can trust.
Also, you’ll find the addresses of places you can turn to further down on this page.
School
It’s perfectly normal to be unsure about whether you can openly talk about the situation at school. After all, it’s not easy to know how the others will react. It’s probably worth treading carefully and taking good care of yourself. It’s important that you feel confident about your decisions. It’s all about trust.
Maybe your school’s got a social worker or teacher whom you trust and whom you can tell about the situation you’re in.
Friends
Or you might prefer to tell your best friend, but don’t know how they’ll react. You’ll need to give it a good amount of thought. You probably have a feeling for whom you can trust to talk to about your situation to and whom it’s better not say anything to.
Let’s see what ‘Simmi’ has to say:
Who to tell?
Your neighbors
If your neighbours suddenly stop being friendly when you meet them on the stairs or don’t say ‘hello’ anymore when they meet you in the street, it could be because somebody’s told them that your Mum or Dad’s in prison. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, it’s worth speaking to them directly when you bump into them. It might help. But think carefully about it first and definitely speak to your Mum or Dad beforehand.
During sport
Your sports club‘s another place where you might feel left out and where people might not be so keen to play on the same team as you. Again, it might help to speak about it openly. But sometimes it can make matters even worse. Definitely talk to somebody you trust about it first. Or have you got a good friend at the club who’s on your side and who can help you?
Here you can find help
If you don’t know who to talk to — maybe because you feel ashamed? — you can find help at any of the following places. And it doesn’t matter what you need to talk about or how long it takes!
Here, you’ll find help and people you can talk to. Tell us what’s happened to you, and we can work together to decide who and what could help you: