Teens Run Mental Health Hotline, Log 10K Calls Yearly

Every weekday evening in Century City, California, high schoolers trade their backpacks for headsets and become lifelines for peers in crisis. They're volunteers at Teen Line, a hotline proving that sometimes the best person to help a struggling teenager is another teenager.

For more than four decades, Teen Line has operated on a beautifully simple idea: train teens to support other teens through life's toughest moments. Today, 100 volunteer high schoolers answer calls about everything from loneliness and relationship problems to suicidal thoughts and eating disorders.

"I think the biggest thing I say to almost every caller is that it's okay not to be okay," says Sanaya, a volunteer who joined last fall. "There's such a culture, especially among teenagers, to just say, 'I'm fine.'"

The timing couldn't be more critical. About 40 percent of U.S. high school students report persistent sadness or hopelessness, according to the CDC. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24.

Meanwhile, federal support for youth mental health is shrinking. The Department of Education recently ended roughly $1 billion in school counselor grants, and the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline removed its dedicated option for LGBTQ+ youth.

Teen Line fills that gap with no federal funding, just grants and donations. Volunteers log over 10,000 contacts yearly from teens around the world. Senior Director Cheryl Karp Eskin remembers even getting a call from Zimbabwe.

Getting selected requires serious commitment. Teens must be at least 14 years old and complete three months of intensive classroom training covering everything from bullying to crisis response. They learn active listening skills, emotional regulation, and how to make callers feel truly heard.

After training on practice calls and learning from experts at organizations like the Rape Treatment Center, volunteers finally start answering emails, then texts, then phone calls. About 60 to 70 percent of contacts now come through online channels.

Sanaya takes about one shift weekly, more than the minimum two monthly shifts required. "It's definitely one of my favorite things to do after school," she says.

Why This Inspires

Teen Line proves that young people aren't just the future. They're powerful healers in the present. These volunteers are developing empathy, crisis management skills, and emotional intelligence while literally saving lives. They're building the exact support system they and their peers desperately need, proving that sometimes the most effective solutions come from those closest to the problem.

At a time when adults are cutting mental health funding, teenagers are showing up for each other with compassion, training, and hope.