It is hard not to be increasingly concerned about the safeguarding of children at Childline, an arm of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). I believe that young, vulnerable and impressionable children are being exposed to worrying material, grounded in ideology, on the charity’s website.

Childline runs a message board which children can use to talk to each other about issues they are struggling with. The intention is for it to act as a form of peer support. But there appears to be inadequate safeguarding in place on its site.

I looked at a random sample of messages in the ‘Gender Identity’ section of Childline’s message boards and was appalled by what I discovered.

In a thread entitled ‘Passing and Gender Expression’, a young girl talks about wanting to ‘pass’ as a boy by wearing different clothing. Immediately, a response from another user tells the young girl that without cross sex hormones ‘it’ll be nearly impossible to pass’. This is encouraging the medicalisation of children. As far as I can see, at no point does a Childline moderator intervene.

In a thread entitled ‘My period is giving me major gender dysphoria’, a clearly vulnerable 14-year-old girl describes a desire to start cross-sex hormones. However, her parents are against the idea (and are presumably concerned about the potentially irreversible and detrimental impact of this medication).

Straight away, a ‘trans guy’ advises the young girl to source and start cross-sex hormones without her parents’ knowledge.

It appears again that at no point does a Childline moderator intervene, even though current NHS guidance says that cross-sex hormones should not prescribed in the UK before a child has reached the age of 16.

In a thread, entitled ‘Binder Finder!!’, a young girl asks for advice about sourcing breast binders. She immediately receives multiple recommendations for the cheapest places to find them. At no point does a Childline moderator publicly engage to highlight the serious harm that such breast binders can cause.

This is only scratching the surface. There are over 15,000 posts on the ‘Gender Identity’ message board. I dread to think what else would be uncovered if every post was trawled through.

Crucially, allowing such posts is in clear breach of Childline’s own ‘House Rules’, which prohibit messages that contain the ‘giving of medical advice’.

Childline claim to have moderators who check every message before allowing it to be posted to the message boards. They appear to be failing to do this on issues relating to gender ideology. And although the message boards are for children only, it would be extremely easy for an adult with ill-intent to create an account, pose as a child and use the forum.

But the concerns with Childline stretch far beyond its message boards.

I have previously written about ‘Ask Sam’ – a publicly available counselling service, in which an adult Childline worker responds to letters from young people.

In one letter, a 14-year-old girl writes in to say that she hates her breasts. The response from ‘Sam’ (who is a trained, adult Childline worker) is to bring up the use of breast binders, albeit with a warning about potential medical ramifications.

In another letter, a young girl who is struggling with gender dysphoria raises concerns about getting pregnant in later life if she were to ‘medically transition’. Sam’s response mentions ‘surgery and hormones’ as a potential choice before, more shockingly, stating that she could ‘have a surrogate mother carry the baby for you’.

The fact that trained staff at a children’s charity are engaging with vulnerable children in this manner feels beyond reckless.

Childline’s own webpage on ‘Gender Identity’ reads as more of a road map to transitioning than anything else. It gives children ideas of different ways in which they might like to transition, for example, ‘changing your name’ and using pronouns such as ‘ze and zir’.

There is not a single mention on the webpage as to the fact that gender dysphoria is a mental health condition, which usually resolves itself over time.

Numerous Childline workers have reached out to me to say they have felt pressure to ‘affirm’ transitioning for children and have encountered other counsellors who start every conversation with children by giving their pronouns and asking for pronouns in return.

An NSPCC spokesperson says: ‘Childline is – and has always been – here for every child, no matter the issue or concern. Our trained counsellors provide support and impartial advice to children and young people to explore their feelings in a non-directive way. They offer advice on how to cope with worries, how to discuss concerns with trusted adults in their lives and they signpost to available external support.

‘The Childline message boards are a place where young people can express themselves and seek and offer support to each other on any issue or problem. The message board posts are led by young people and it is not unusual to find diverse or conflicting opinions, as you will find on any public forum.’

This week, the Charity Commission said that it was ‘aware of concerns’ about Childline and was deciding whether an investigation should be launched. This is a welcome development. Childline should be a neutral mental health service, based on open exploration, and free from bias. Instead, it appears to be imposing an ideological framework upon children. This cannot be allowed to continue.