Tel-jeunes

Tel-jeunes has been a key resource for young people in Québec since 1991. The service provides a team of professional counsellors available around the clock by telephone or online to listen, provide support and offer information on any topic of concern.

The Tel-jeunes approach is based on the principle of empowerment. The counsellors get the young people to participate in finding their own solutions. Youngsters are referred to our bank of professional resources as required.
 

What is Tel-jeunes?

Tel-jeunes provides access to professional counsellors:

• Available 24/7
• By telephone or online
• For all youth aged 5 to 20 in Québec

Tel-jeunes also provides counsellors and educators for schools who foster peer support, and teach young people about sexuality and bullying prevention.
 

What do young people talk about?

• Their distress over being a victim of violence, bullying or harassment
• Their anxiety or feelings of isolation
• Their worries over the changes that puberty brings
• Their heartaches and crushes
• Their suicidal thoughts or their fear of seeing a friend commit suicide

  Why is Tel-jeunes essential?

1. Suicide is one of the main causes of death among young people, particularly among males aged 15 to 29 in Québec.
   Every year, Tel-jeunes helps some 2,190 youths who disclose their suicidal thoughts or those of someone close to them.
    
2. Ten percent of young people are the victims of bullying at school, suffering from this form of violence at least once a week.
   Every year, Tel-jeunes supports approximately 4,380 youths who talk to us about all sorts of violent acts, half of which have to do with bullying.
    
3. Young people don’t have ready access to pertinent information about sexuality.
   Every year, Tel-jeunes responds to around 10,950 questions from young people on the topic of sexuality, some 2,920 of which concern pregnancy or abortion.
    
4. In Québec, there is a shortage of professional resources available to young people.
   Every year, Tel-jeunes deals directly with approximately 83,515 young people by phone, email or in group sessions. The teljeunes.com site receives close to 365,000 visits per year lasting an average of five minutes each.

Who uses Tel-jeunes ?

• Girls – 71%
• Boys – 29%
• Average age: 15

In the last year, 82,315 young people contacted Tel-jeunes :

• 49 668 by phone
• 17 078 by email
• 7 110 took part in support forums on the Web site
• 8 439 participated in a themed workshop offered by Tel-jeunes

And that’s not counting the number of visits to the teljeunes.com Web site:

• 1 869 911 pages were viewed; ages ont été consultées ;
• The average time spent per site visit was 5 minutes, 25 seconds;
• 65 % of the visits originated through search engines, where young people entered the keywords “bullying,” “suicide,” or “pregnancy test.”