While many adults may view a teen’s life as carefree, many teenagers feel the opposite is true.
A 2021 report by the World Health Organization found that one in seven 10 to 19-year-olds experience a mental health disorder – anxiety, depression and behavioral disorders are among the leading causes of teen illness and disability. Additionally, it was found that suicide was the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds.
Teen Line, a program by Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, offers a way for young people to call and discuss problems without judgment by talking with their peers.
Teen Line operates every evening offering free confidential support and mental health resources.
Those answering the hotline, however, aren’t professional therapists or counselors – they’re Los Angeles high school students.
They can understand that those their age can be targeted for bullying and harassment, leaving them with no friends to talk to. They know teens can be reluctant to talk to an adult for fear of being judged or nervous about their reaction.
“Our founders were doing group therapy with adolescents, and they saw the power of the teen-to-teen connection, that teens were almost getting more from each other than they were from the adults,” said Cheryl Eskin, Teen Line senior director. “They know what it’s like to grow up post-pandemic, with social media, school shootings, you name it. There’s just a shared experience that [makes it] feel easier, less judgmental and more understanding.”
The volunteers – referred to as “teen listeners” – have completed 65 hours of training on topics that include abuse, self-harm, active listening, crisis and suicide assessment and more than 100 hours of observing and practicing taking calls and texts. Currently, 140 teen listeners in the program are supervised by adult mental health professionals who give guidance when needed.
Although they aren’t trained to provide mental health diagnoses or therapy, teen listeners can be a sympathetic ear and suggest helpful resources in their communities. In 2023, teen listeners answered more than 6,400 calls, texts and emails.
Part of the teen listener training involves talking openly about difficult topics, such as suicide. Eskin said that they practice with volunteers to be comfortable asking someone if they’re feeling suicidal or have ever thought about suicide.
Common warning signs of suicide can include talking or joking about suicide, glamorizing death, engaging in reckless behavior, giving away valued possessions and writing a will or saying goodbye to loved ones.
“What we, unfortunately, find is most teens have known someone who’s been suicidal or died by suicide. Same with self-injury, so they’re dealing with this topic already,” Eskin said. “We’re just giving them the training to deal with it. We spend a lot of time on [how to] feel comfortable with someone expressing those feelings and how you would do an accurate assessment and safety plan.”
Teen Listener Shares Her Experience
Mendez, who opted not to provide her last name, is a high school junior who’s been a teen listener for about a year. She first heard about Teen Line through a presentation held at her school. Seeing the need for mental health resources for teens and wanting to make a positive impact, she volunteered.
Mendez described the training as extensive, and new teen listeners start out with answering emails before working their way up to answering calls. They practice with several role plays where they simulate a call and receive feedback on their performance.
It didn’t take long for Mendez’s training to be put to the test. Early on in her time as a teen listener, Mendez received a call from someone who was actively suicidal. The caller had the means and a timeline, planning to take her own life that very night.
Mendez learned there was a family member in the house whom the caller had not told of her suicidal ideation for fear of how they may react. That’s when Mendez worked with the caller to get her comfortable with telling her family member.
“We did a role-play where I pretended to be the family member,” Mendez said. “We kept talking it through … until she felt comfortable enough to actually go speak to that family member and I stayed on the phone while she did that. I didn’t hear much … I could hear the knock on the door, I could hear the mumbles of them talking and then I could just hear her crying. It was a really emotional moment.”
Mendez stayed on the phone with the caller until she arrived at a hospital and spoke with a desk clerk and scheduled a follow-up call the next day.
That wasn’t the first time she received a call from someone actively suicidal, but it was the first time she had stayed on the phone while the caller talked to a family member and was driven to the hospital. The call lasted around an hour and a half to two hours.
“I wished her luck and told her everything would be OK,” Mendez said. “I told her she’s really strong, she’s really brave for reaching out and for getting this help because that’s the hardest part of feeling suicidal.”
Mendez explained that when a teen listener takes a call, they stay on the line until it’s over so callers don’t have to talk about personal details with multiple people. The Teen Line, Mendez said, is both accessible and confidential, allowing teens to be more open about their problems.
“People who will call or text or email are venting about anything and in full detail and getting everything off their chest because they don’t have to reveal information about themselves, and they don’t know who they’re talking to,” said Mendez. “It feels like a safe space to share anything that a caller would like to share.”
How to Become a Teen Listener
The program holds three training opportunities annually during the fall, spring and summer seasons. To be a teen listener, one has to be at least 14 years old; in or entering ninth or 10th grade; fully vaccinated against COVID-19; live in or near LA; present for all the training sessions, interview and orientation without being absent; and required to get an annual health clearance – that includes a tuberculosis blood test and flu shot – as well as provide proof of various childhood immunizations.
Teen listeners are expected to volunteer in the hotline room at least twice a month; the program does not offer any opportunities to volunteer remotely. They are not paid but can receive community service credit at their school. Volunteers can be teen listeners up until the summer after their high school graduation.
“I think one thing that’s very special about Teen Line that you can’t really find with many other hotlines or resources for teens is that you would be talking to another teen and … there’s a level of understanding and a deeper connection that’s harder to reach with like an adult hotline,” Mendez said. “Talking to a parent sometimes can be scary because a lot of our callers will say that they don’t want to worry their family or they don’t want to worry their friend, so talking to someone anonymously, especially another teenager, is really helpful.”
To reach Teen Line, dial (800) 852-8336 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., text “TEEN” to 839863 between 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. or send an email through https://www.teenline.org/email-us.