Troubled teens turn to peers for
help
New Valley hotline helps
nighttime callers cope with problems
By: Dana Bartholomew
LA Daily News
September 16, 2006
RESEDA - Troubled teens fighting
nighttime funks can now seek the solace of other teens for help via
a Valley hotline.
TEEN LINE, a Los Angeles
peer-telephone hotline and educational outreach service, has opened
its first satellite office in the San Fernando Valley.
"When teens have problems they
don't normally go to a mental health professional, they don't
generally talk to their parents," hotline founder and Executive
Director Elaine Leader said during the official grand opening
Saturday about the hotline's new Tarzana Treatment Center office in
Reseda.
"Our kids are the kinds of kids
that other kids go to when they're having problems," Leader said.
TEEN LINE, an affiliate of
Cedar-Sinai Medical Center's Department of Psychiatry, was founded
26 years ago to help teenagers cope with the troubles of
adolescence.
Teenagers with depression. Teens
thinking about suicide. Lovesick teens. Teens who are on drugs or
who have become pregnant or who have difficulty with their weight.
Or teens just being teens.
The hotline has allowed tens of
thousands of teens to speak with trained teenage listeners about
their problems.
The Reseda TEEN LINE satellite,
which had a soft opening in April, now allows scores of Valley
volunteers to work on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays close to home.
"This is one of the most special
and enlightening experiences I've ever had," said Natasha, 17, of
Encino, who was among dozens of Valley TEEN LINE volunteers to
celebrate the Reseda opening.
"It has given me the opportunity to
talk to teenagers outside of my community to try to help."
The Reseda hotline, like the one in
Los Angeles, offers listeners and professional referral services.
Last year, the hotline handled more
than 10,000 calls and e-mails across the nation.
A TEEN LINE Community Outreach
Program also takes teens into schools to encourage discussions about
peer pressure, gangs, drug and alcohol abuse, growing up gay,
self-esteem and suicide prevention.
Last year, more than 20,000 area
teens attended TEEN LINE outreach presentations.
TEEN LINE is now seeking Valley
volunteers in grades nine through 12 for its Reseda nighttime
hotline. Training takes six months.
dana.bartholomew@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3730
|
