Cheerful New Hotline Gives You A Quick Pep Talk From Kindergartners

Image via West Side Union Elementary School

Like most normal adults, teachers Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss have been bogged down by the stream of bad news the world has been receiving. But unlike most adults, they’ve thankfully found a medicine in their relentlessly optimistic young students at West Side Elementary School in Healdsburg, California.

Now, they’re sharing this daily dose of positivity with anyone who needs an instant pick-me-up.

By dialing 707-998-8410, jaded callers will be connected to the bilingual ‘Peptoc Hotline’, which dishes out positive mantras by children at the rural elementary school.

“If you’re feeling mad, frustrated, or nervous, press one,” the hotline’s automated message can be heard saying. “If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press two. If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press three. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press four. For encouragement in Spanish, press five.”

One wise, young voice suggests: “Be grateful for yourself." Another reminds: “Bro, you’re looking great.”

“If you’re frustrated, you can always go to your bedroom and punch a pillow or cry on it,” says one kid. Another student urges: “If you’re feeling up high and unbalanced, think of groundhogs.”

One child can be heard giving some solid financial advice: “If you’re nervous, go get your wallet and spend it on ice cream and shoes.”

Option four presents a more general message: It simply delivers a five-second loop of children’s laughter.

“I thought, you know, with this world being as it is, we all really needed to hear from them—their extraordinary advice and their continual joy,” Martin, who’s also a local artist, tells NPR.

As an art teacher of the school, Martin has taught her young students the idea of art as a social practice so more people can benefit from its effects. The helpline was created as part of a project with her class, and the school is accepting donations from the public to help fund its fees; additional funds will go into supporting the students’ enrichment programs.

Martin says the hotline picked up as many as 700 calls per hour just two days after it went live on February 26.

“That this went viral is really testament that we all still have a lot of healing to do,” notes Martin. She emphasizes that “it’s really important that we continue to hold this light.”

[via NPR and CNN, cover image via West Side Union Elementary School]