“Before Covid-19, those under 14 called about ten times a year, there are more than 2,000”, SOS Friendship alert

“We hang up, it rings. We hang up, it rings. » Jean-Noël Pintard, the president of SOS Friendship in Montpellier (Hérault), can only see, for many years, how many situations of ill-being are very, very numerous. Too many, even, for the volunteers to be able to respond to all the requests from people in suffering, on the famous helpline. “We have been saturated, for a very long time, 24 hours a day,” he confides. And the disarray of the French is not improving, if we are to believe the results of the barometer of the association, unveiled in Montpellier (Hérault).

According to this study, in 2022, of the 3.3 million phone calls received in the 59 SOS Amitié listening locations in France, the 1,900 volunteers were able to pick up 600,000 times. Not to mention the long discussions by email or on the association’s chat. Soaring requests in recent years. “The number of calls increased during the Covid-19 crisis by 25 to 30%, explains Ghislaine Desseigne, president of SOS Amitié France. And since then, these calls, we have not lost them. »

More and more teenagers are asking for SOS Amitié

The successive confinements have generated, among those who called the hotline, anxiety, a fear of the future and, for many of them, a feeling of isolation. And when life resumed, the discomfort did not diminish, on the other side of the handset. The volunteers of SOS Amitié have since faced many situations of depression, precariousness or even “tension, between people”, continues Ghislaine Desseigne. And sometimes, those who call SOS Friendship evoke suicidal thoughts: their number increased in 2022 by 44%, according to the association, compared to 2021.

In its barometer, the structure is also alarmed that more and more young people under the age of 14 are contacting them: from 2020 to 2022, the number of pre-teens who have requested the helpline has increased by 40% . A considerable leap in the age of social networks. “Before Covid-19, it was a few dozen calls per year, continues the president of SOS Amitié France. Today it is just over 2,000. Out of 600,000, we can tell ourselves that it’s not that huge… But, unfortunately, that means something. »

“The first question teenagers ask is, ‘Are you a robot?’ »

Often at odds with their parents and with school, these young people, unable to project themselves into the future or affected by bullying problems, are looking for “an adult to talk to, continues Jean-Noël Pintard. But not a reprimanding adult, but a caring adult, who they may not have, around them”. Moreover, often, on the chat, “the first question they ask is “Are you a robot?”. And the second is “Are you an adult?” Adds Ghislaine Desseigne. We feel that they are looking for landmarks, an exchange with an adult. It is striking. »

To continue the listening work it has been carrying out for 60 years, SOS Amitié needs volunteers. Because for the moment, she can only take one call out of five.

Information on the SOS Amitié association, here.

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