In need of some encouragement, kind words or smile? Try calling “Peptoc”, a free hotline created by students at West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, California, to offer advice and uplifting messages to those going through a difficult time.
Martin, together with other teachers at West Side Elementary, is behind the program. “There are depressing periods when we really needed to hear from the children — their extraordinary advice and their continual joy,” Martin told NPR.
They spoke to their students, aged 6 to 11, about the idea and asked them to think of how they’ve stayed positive throughout the pandemic. They also asked them to recall moments when they received helpful advice. “So all of the responses are really coming from the kids and their own life experiences, and the advice they’ve gleaned (搜集) over their short years on this planet,” Martin told The Guardian. The teachers and their students also hung posters and fliers (传单) throughout town spreading positive messages.
The hotline, launched in less than a week, went viral, receiving 500 calls per hour in just two days. It currently receives up to 9,000 calls per hour. After dialing, you’ll be prompted (提示) with a menu of options, such as words for encouragement and life advice, inspiring talks from kindergartners, kids’ laughing with delight. “The world is a better place with you in it”, “If you re frustrated, you can always go to your bedroom, punch (拳打) a pillow or cry on it and just go to scream outside” are such uplifting tips, voiced by excited, optimistic children.
According to Martin, the children’s creativity and resourcefulness is something that is amazing, because that level of joy and love and imagination is what’s going to warm and save us in the end.
Amy McWilliams, who has suffered from cancer, says she’s called the hotline several times for encouragement and has even shared it with fellow cancer patients. “It’s joy straight from the literal mouths of babies,” she told CNN. “We adults forget that spreading kindness and positive thinking can really be that simple.”
【小题1】What do we know about “Peptoc”?| A．It offers service for a fee. | B．It is intended for students. |
| C．It can help us feel relieved. | D．It assists us to leave messages. |
| A．By offering the callers pillows to punch. | B．By collecting the callers’ suggestions. |
| C．By chatting with those calling for help. | D．By putting up posters across the state. |
| A．Critical. | B．Influential. |
| C．Meaningless. | D．Shameful. |
| A．Students launched a hotline to spread encouragement. |
| B．A teacher gave her students a special calling training. |
| C．A teacher told her students an inspiring story. |
| D．Students were taught tips on getting rid of frustration. |
