Inundated with the harsh realities of the world right now? Just call 707-998-8410 or 707-873-7862 for words of wisdom, encouragement, and life advice from a group of eager elementary school children. It's a small, but needed, dose of joy.
"Hi, welcome to Peptoc, a public art project by West Side School," a child recites to you when you call the number. The kid-led menu then shares a few pick-me-up options: "If you're feeling mad, frustrated, or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press 3. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press 4. If you would like to make a donation to support this project, please press 6. For encouragement in Spanish, press 5." Each option takes you to a variety of children's voices, insights, and in one case, just laughter.
The free hotline, called Peptoc, is a public art project created by two teachers and students at West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, California. The educators and artists, Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss, wanted to provide a positive respite for callers using the inspiring words of their students. The hotline was launched on Feb. 26 and quickly shot up to hundreds of callers every hour, NPR reported. Since then, the hotline has reached thousands of people, and Martin explained to Mashable over email that Peptoc currently averages 3,000 callers each day.
"I am so proud of these kids," Martin said. "It is so important that they see that they have this tremendous power to lift up the world."
"It's so accessible to just make a phone call, and it's been shared widely because people are touched to hear young voices imparting genuine, silly, and profound statements," Weiss said over email. "People clearly need this right now."
Martin, an art teacher, told NPR that she hoped others could emulate the attitude of her students, who are constantly finding joy despite their everyday struggles from things like the pandemic and regional wildfires. "That this went viral is really testament that we all still have a lot of healing to do," she told NPR. "And you know, with the current situation in Ukraine and all of the other terrors and sadness that we all carry, it's really important that we continue to hold this light."
"I want everyone who hears of this to feel empowered to do something that supports life and love where they live," Weiss said to Mashable.
Weiss added that the students don't quite yet understand how many people have been positively impacted by Peptoc, but her and Martin are in the process of explaining it. "Everyone has the ability to do something small that may bring folks together in their street or town. In this case, the project has become much larger than what it started out as," Weiss said. "Imagine if everyone knew they could impart that kind of positive change into the world."
Use Peptoc if the words of your friends or internet strangers just aren't enough. Recited to callers in the wholesome voices of small children, the hotline is truly full of gems:
"If you're feeling up high and unbalanced, think of groundhogs."
"If you're nervous, go get your wallet and spend it on ice cream and shoes!"
"We already like you!"
And for when you just need something simple: "You are OK."
Martin explained that Peptoc's free service is currently using up one million minutes donated from their hotline provider, Telzio, but with the thousands of callers visiting every day those minutes will quickly run out. Callers can donate to keep the project running. Just call the Peptoc number and press 6, contribute to the hotline's GoFundMe, or donate online to the West Side School Parent Organization. These donations support a multitude of projects alongside Peptoc, including art and music programming, which lost 75% of their funding post-pandemic, Martin explained. "We are determined to keep it running for all!"
UPDATE: Mar. 16, 2022, 4:00 p.m. EDT This article was updated to include an additional hotline number that Peptoc added to address high demand.
UPDATE: Mar. 8, 2022, 11:30 a.m. EST This article was updated with additional quotes from Asherah Weiss.
Topics Social Good
