And a child shall encourage us.

There are children at West Side Elementary School in Healdsburg, California, who want to encourage and inspire us all. They aim to make stressed and overwhelmed people feel better during these challenging and uncertain times.

The students are part of PepToc, an unmanned hotline that plays prerecorded reassuring messages. AT 707-8PEPTOC or 707-873-7862 and 707-998-8410, elementary children from 6-12-years-old give pep talks to callers who need positive reinforcement.

I called the PePToc hotline because I was stuck in the mud and needed some encouragement. I pressed option three, and a chorus of kindergarteners cheered, “You can do it! Keep trying! Don’t give up!”

This was the exact message I needed. Thanks, PePToc! Thanks, kids!

Children help us remember that dreams are possible if we believe and do the work. Isn’t this what we tell them?

The elementary students at West Side pay the can-do self-esteem message forward.

We tell our children about angels who are always with them to help and protect them. Aren’t these angels still with us?

Children remind us of when we were their age and believed the best in people and the best that the world and life offer. We want the best for them. And there are still good things left for us, too, right?

We teach our kids to say grace and to pray. Do we continue to do the same?

Kids are precious intuitive beings who soak up most things they see and are told. We kiss their boo-boos from scrapes and falls, love them, and make them feel better.

They want us to feel secure and better too. Children can sense when they’re moody and down in the dumps. When things aren’t quite right, they want the best for us.

There’s no bigger fan club or cheerer-uppers than West Side Elementary School kids.

If you need a pick-me-up, they have a message just for you. They are a calming salve and aspirin for some of life’s worries and headaches.

Imagine calling children for encouragement!

Don’t be surprised if there’s a busy signal. The hotline has handled 11,000 calls every hour around the clock. The PePToc hotline is definitely in demand.

When kids believe in you, it helps you to believe in yourself.

Who came up with this fantastic idea during an ongoing pandemic, war, hardships of all types, and just stuff and problems unforeseen?

According to Jessica Martin’s PePToc website (PEPTOC – JESSICA MARTIN ART), she and Asherah Weiss, a fellow artist and teacher, along with the students, created this public art project. “The project consists of student-made motivational flyers and a hotline with prerecorded pep talks and life advice from kids 5-12.”

Wow!

To say the hotline is making a positive impact is an understatement, and the proof is in the number of callers seeking encouragement.

The hotline messages pertain to the following options:

“If you’re feeling mad, frustrated, or nervous, press one.”

“If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press two.”

“If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press three.”

Yes, a child can inspire us.

Be safe.