DAVIDSON-Help is always a phone call, or a mouse click, away for kids who need someone they can talk to, students at Davidson, Kenaston and Loreburn schools were reminded last Monday.

Kids Help Phone counsellors Jennifer Osei-Appiah and Shawna Gardner visited the school to tell students about Kids Help Phone, a free counselling service that is always available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Kids Help Phone, a charitable organization, is in the midst of its winter tour, visiting high schools across the country.

The school tour is Kids Help Phone's fourth and presented by Motorola's Raise Your Voice Initiative. The objective is to encourage kids to speak out on issues that affect them.

They deal with all types of issues. In 2009 Kids Help Phone received 2.2 million phone calls and posts to its website, Gardner said.

Mental health and peer issues are the main topics they deal with, followed by family issues, sexuality and abuse.
No topic is off limits.

"Different types of bullying is a very popular topic. We get a lot of calls about cyber-bullying," Osei-Appiah said.

She said they listen to kids' problems and find that many don't realize that behaviour such as social isolation is a form of bullying. Another problem for many kids is that due to Internet social-networking sites and text messaging, bullying isn't something they can leave behind at school. It comes home with them.

From all sorts of issues facing youth today such as parental divorce, abuse and gang violence to the everyday challenges of being a teenager, teens learned they can turn to Kids Help Phone for help.

These days counsellors are helping kids through serious problems.

"We find a lot more stress for kids today and they are busy. With the recession they are calling because money is tight and they want to help parents," Osei-Appiah said.

She took the kids through a mock phone call and answered questions from the crowd.

Gardner said they do get prank phone calls, but they treat them as real calls.

"We call them "testing" because they do end up turning into real calls," Gardner said.

Kids Help Phone provides confidential, compassionate and professional counselling.

There are times, such as when callers are threatening to harm themselves, others or are in a dangerous or abusive situation, when counsellors encourage callers to disclose information.

Kids Help Phone has a new website, which is popular among youth. Osei-Appiah says some kids prefer to post their questions and concerns on-line than by making phone calls.

Kids age five to 20 may use Kids Help Phone by calling 1-800-668-6868 or at www.kidshelpphone.ca.