Please Hold Kindly. This Hotline Gives You Pep Talks From Kids
This week is National Random Acts of Kindness Week, and if you’re in need of some kindness, a pep-talk line featuring nuggets of wisdom from elementary school students from kindergarten through sixth grade can help.
The Peptoc Hotline embodies the spirit of kindness to others and to you.
In 2022, artists and teachers Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss created Peptoc with students at West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, California, about 110 miles northwest of Sacramento. As of December 2025, the hotline has received more than 25 million calls.
It started with tear-down posters featuring quotes like “It’s okay to feel down” and other comforting messages. Posters were created and hung in public spaces.
“I invited Ashera to come and work with me on a project about empathy and compassion,” Martin, who works in an elementary school, told USA TODAY.
Martin felt inspired to start the project after hearing children comforting each other at school.
“We were just coming out of this pandemic, and the kids were just surviving wildfires and being evacuated, and I was just feeling their support and their amazing advice for each other and for themselves,” Martin said.
It then evolved into the Peptoc Hotline, with pre-recorded health advice from primary school students.
Pre-recorded lines of encouragement from elementary school students are meant to support you when you’re feeling overwhelmed, need life advice, need reassurance about the way you look, and more.
Here’s what you need to know about the hotline and how it works.
Frustrated? Press 1
When you call, people will get student advice on what to do if they are upset.
Advice ranges from telling callers to take three breaths and think about what they like, to go shopping for shoes and ice cream for fun, and to do some flips on the trampoline whenever frustration strikes.
Callers also have the chance to hear health advice, “kids who laugh with joy,” pep talks by preschoolers or in Spanish, and bonus advice from students at school, according to Peptoc’s website.
The life advice option includes quotes like “thank yourself,” “Don’t give up, be successful,” and “Bro, you look good!”
How to call the Peptoc Hotline?
To reach the hotline, call 707-873-7862 (707-8PEPTOC). Then press the number to hear the following options:
- Because if you are frustrated
- When you need advice about life
- Hearing pep talks from kindergarten
- Hearing “children laughing with joy”
- Hearing pep talks in Spanish
- To hear “how beautiful you look”
- For bonus advice on what to do when you’re feeling “down,” “hurt” or “out of control”
Finally, those interested in donating a phone number can press 0 for a link with instructions on how to donate to keep the phone number active.
A pep talk in book format
“You’re Awesome Like a Rocket: Pep Talks for Everyone, from Young People Around the World,” compiled by Martin and Weiss, features children’s art from around the world and includes 8 tear-up posters created by West Side Elementary students.
The hardcover book, which retails for $24.99, can be purchased online or in person at Amazon, local stores, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble.
Julia Gomez is USA TODAY’s trending reporter and covers popular toys, science studies, natural disasters, holidays, and breaking news. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected].
This article first appeared in USA TODAY: Please hold on to kindness. This phone number gives you a pep talk from the kids.
Reporting by Julia Gomez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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