From pep talks to funny videos, here's how kids are helping adults find joy in trying times
It's no secret that the last two years have challenged adults in ways they never thought possible: A global pandemic rocked our very sense of normalcy, bringing deep loss and tragedy for many families as global unrest and uncertainty introduced economic setbacks and crippling inflation. Now a war in Ukraine threatens to upend peace in Europe and beyond.
It's bleak out there. Our collective psyche is taxed. We're exhausted. Hopeless. Desperate for relief.
Enter, our kids.
In the past two weeks, more than half a million adults have called the Peptoc headline, a hotline set up by California art teacher Jessica Martin and her co-teacher Asherah Weiss. The hotline offers callers the option of hearing encouraging words from West Side Union Elementary School students or to simply hear them laughing for a few seconds.
When callers dial into Peptoc, they'll hear some adorable options: "If you're feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press 3. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press 4. For encouragement in Spanish, press 5."
"There's nothing better than an encouraging word from a young child," Jessica Martin tells Yahoo Life. "When we presented the idea to [the students], they didn't hesitate. These students have been through wildfires, a pandemic and so many other difficulties in their young lives, yet they're still able to hold such amazing joy and have fun during the day."
The first part of Martin's happiness-inducing lesson plan, which she calls "art as social practice," was a collection of fliers on which students wrote inspirational messages and placed them around the town where they live. Each flier had tab strips at the bottom to tear off and keep as a reminder of the kids' messages of hope.
Next came the hotline, which has fielded up to 11,000 calls per hour.
"It just shows you how much we need something like this right now," says Martin.
Why children lift us up
There's good reason why adults instantly smile and coo when they see a baby or laugh uproariously at TikToks and Instagram reels showing the hilarious things children say and do. The television show Kids Say the Darndest Things, has been on and off the air for decades, and was recently revived by comedian Tiffany Haddish. Children bring us a contagious kind of joy and infectious optimism that is truly timeless.
Ami Hood Frost, a marriage and family therapist at Lumos Counseling in Edmond, Okla., cites childrens' rapid brain development for their excitement and sense of wonder at the world. "The way they try to make sense of the world is so refreshing and different from the way adults see things," she says. "We're able to enjoy children's perspectives because we can understand they have a limited experience of reality but also a unique perspective at the same time."
Martin agrees. "I've worked with kids for a long time and have little kids myself. I've seen first-hand that humans are born with this very powerful joy and that's our life force," she says. "As we get older, we build walls, create masks and build new identities to conform to societal expectations. Those cover up that joy, but it's always there beneath the surface."
"As adults," Martin continues, "we see that strength and joy children have and it reminds us we still have that joy within us as well. It's incredibly comforting."
When Martin's mother was diagnosed with cancer and Martin took over as her caregiver, her daughter was just under 1 year old. Later, when Martin's mother passed away, she was surprised by how much comfort and joy her own daughter brought in her time of grief.
"It felt like she was caring for me as much or more than I was caring for her," she says. "She gave me strength to keep moving forward just from holding her and feeling her pure love and life force: We forget kids have this power, and that it's something we can learn from and surround ourselves with."
Kids can teach grown-ups to deal with hard times
Frost says children have a limited ability to understand long-term perspective, simply due to their lack of life experience. They also tend to move from emotion to emotion with more acceptance and fluidity than adults.
We can tap into this, Frost says. "Adults can remind themselves that even though we understand long-term ramifications and worldwide struggles better than our children can, we live moment-to-moment just like all other humans and we can take one day and one moment at a time."
Frost suggests regularly reminding ourselves that feelings of overwhelm, frustration, anxiety and sadness are temporary and normal. "The more we learn not to harshly judge our feelings, the better we'll be able to move through them."
Comedian Julian Shapiro-Barnum, creator and host of the popular Instagram video series Recess Therapy, feels the Peptoc hotline offers something more than being cute and positive.
Like his own series, which asks kids questions about life and showcases their hilarious and wise answers, "[the hotline] provides adults with an access point to this true sincerity kids have intuitively, but grown-ups forget."
"From my experience talking with over 1,000 kids in the past year, it's clear to me that kids never phone it in or say things they don't mean," says Shapiro-Barnum. "The hotline is uplifting because of what they're saying, but it's also uplifting because you know they mean it."
Martin says as adults we get so busy and distracted that we forget to tap into our inner joy. Kids remind us that it's still within us. "The collective despair of the world is very real, so it's really important that we stay connected to our inner joy," he says. "Young kids are always connected to it and we should pay attention to that and apply it in our own lives to help us get through the tough days ahead."
Need a boost? Call the Peptoc Hotline at 707-873-7862 and get ready to smile.
Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.
