A Pep Talk Hotline Created By An Elementary School Has Everyone Ugly Crying
Feeling stressed? Call 707-873-7862.
It’s one of the most stressful times of the year — and it’s also literally the darkest and the coldest that it gets. A lot of people are struggling for a lot of different reasons. Isn’t it time that a kindergartener told us all that we are doing the best we can?
This week, journalist Josh White shared that he found a hotline where elementary school students give pep talks, and when he tried the service on camera, he couldn’t help but tear up as kids told him that he was loved and doing a great job.
The video quickly went viral as kids told him, “You can do it!” and “Keep trying, don’t give up!” and “Be grateful for yourself.”
The hotline is a public art project created by West Side Elementary, a K-6th public school in rural Healdsburg, California. It’s called PEPTOC and you can give it a call for free by dialing 707-8PEPTOK (707-873-7862).
The program was started in 2022 by two teaching artists at the school, Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss. According to their website, they have received over 25 million calls since its creation and have a higher call volume than 911 calls to Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami combined.
When you call, you have a number of delightful options, including:
- Press if you’re feeling frustrated, mad or sad.
- Press for life advice.
- Press for pep-talks by kindergarteners.
- Press for children laughing with delight.
- Press for pep talks in Spanish.
- Press for how awesome you look.
- Press for bonus advice
Thousands responde to the beauty of the kids’ messages as seen in White’s video.
“Mister Rogers would have loved this,” one person wrote.
“We can’t fail these babies, we have to demand better,” another said.
White chimed in to explain why he was so moved by the kids on the other end of the phone.
“I’m a journalist and conflict reporter,” he wrote. “This year I’ve spent time in the Middle East where ‘surviving’ is a daily task. I’ve sat with refugees who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I’ve met little girls learning how to run again with missing limbs... This year, more than most, I’ve lived in the space between devastating and beautiful. There was something about hearing a child’s voice (especially their laughter) that broke something open in me, in the best way.”
PEPTOK is a free service run by donations made by a public school. Because of the volume of calls, the service sees monthly hotline fees of $4,000 a month. You can donate to project here.
