During Child Protection Week (3 to 11 September), adults are urged to "switch" off so they can tune into the often unspoken concerns of the young people in their life. It's not just about electronic devices but about being truly available to listen to a young person's concerns.

Worries felt by young people are not often discussed by the child. In fact, new research says two in five 14 to 17 year olds keep their worries to themselves and only a third of young people say their close adult always listens.

The message of Child Protection Week is for every adult to ‘Get Comfy Switching On by Switching off’ for the kids in their life, by going beyond the surface and allowing time to switch on for a child.

Dr Katrina Lines, Act for Kids CEO says their recent research shows a concerning proportion of kids and young people not feeling confident or empowered speak to someone they trust if they are feeling worried.

"The research shows there is a genuine need for adults to simply listen rather than tell a child or young person what to do all the time," Dr Lines says.

Common worries for young people include their appearance and school issues.

One young person said, “I have my days that I feel confident but a lot of the time I am just pretending. I don’t feel confident in my own skin at all and wish I could just click my fingers and change anything I wanted.”

Dr Lines said it is troubling that we have a cohort of young people who are feeling really worried about their appearance and schooling.

"It shows the importance of adults checking in with children and having really valuable and meaningful conversations with children about these topics by switching off what they’re doing and switching on for the kids in their life," she said. "This could be as simple as asking open ended questions about their day or reminding them that you’re there to listen and not necessarily always try to fix the problem."

15-year-old "Phoebe" agreed, saying, “I would want to spend probably like an hour a day with my close adult. I think it would help if the parents had a break off work and spent quality time with their kids. Even if it’s just 10 minutes each day of quality time would be really good.”

"Phoebe" was typical of research subjects who said they wanted to spend at least one to two hours a day with their close adult.

“This could be as simple as asking open ended questions about their day or reminding them that you’re there to listen and not necessarily always try to fix the problem," Ms Lines said. "The research shows there is a genuine need for adults to simply listen rather than tell a child or young person what to do all the time.”

“It’s also about taking advantage of those incidental one-on-one moments, whether it be driving home from school in the car or inviting them to help you make dinner and using those everyday opportunities to ask deeper open-ended questions about what’s going on for them in their life, their friendships

Tips for starting that all important conversation can be found at Act for Kids.

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