Teen Line

Teen Line is a non-profit organization aimed towards helping troubled teens. Their mission is to provide a comfortable experience for teens by having a teen-to-teen hotline with community outreach servicesTeen Line is sponsored by Cedars Sinai and offers many resources such as message boards, text, email and phone calls. Their confidential hotline operates every day 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. PST where teens can talk to another teen who may understand what they’re going through. They won’t judge or give advice; their job is to listen to the person’s feelings and help clarify concerns, define the options available and help make positive decisions. Anything that is causing a teen distress, a specially trained teen volunteer can help for abuse, depression, divorce, bullying, anxiety, pregnancy, relationships, self harm and suicide. Chelsea Seifer (’20), who has gone through the training of becoming a volunteer for the hotline, explained Teen Line’s aim.“In training we started by learning a philosophy called active listening: learning how to let others vent and help them without giving advice,” Seifer said. “We stray away from giving advice since we don’t know they’re personal situations.” This is especially important for some callers because sometimes they just need someone to listen to them and hear their voice.To become a volunteer, one has to go through 65 hours within a course: winter, fall or summer. Seifer and Eliza Bernstein (’19) both trained during summer three times a week at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. For specific topics, they bring in experts on the topic to talk to these volunteers-in-training. For example, LGBT, the LA LGBT center had a seminar and educated the teens about LGBT. After training, the volunteers-in-training have to observe. Observing means they have to listen in on a call that is actively being taken place so they can understand what goes on during a phone call. Then, they have to go through 15 simulations about different issues/topics. Once they are complete with these 15 roleplays, they can now officially be a caller for Teen Line.“Helping teens so far has been very interesting and eye-opening,” Bernstein said. “I just feel very lucky to be able to provide support for these teens.”It takes a lot of hard work and passion to become a volunteer for Teen Line, but it’s only to ensure they are providing teens with the best help to better their issues. Otherwise, Teen Line wouldn’t be as effective in helping those who are facing a hard time. “These are people who are at the end of their rope, you are the line between life and death, you’re their last resort,” Seifer said.The volunteers at Teen Line like Seifer and Bernstein genuinely appreciate knowing they are making a positive effect in teens who are desperately needing someone. Teen Line wants to make sure teens have access to specially-trained volunteers who will be ready to help them in their life choices. Being a teenager can be hard, confusing and frustrating. But unfortunately there are instances where it just seems there is no solution and the teen isn’t sure what to do -- but the volunteers at Teen Line are there to help, hear your problems and steer you into a healthier way of coping.