In the last two years, Manitoba’s Teen Touch crisis line has seen an 80 per cent drop in call volume. This staggering decline forced the organization’s board to call it quits as of Sept. 1 and some of the blame is being laid on the World Wide Web.

“Teens recognize that there are many ways to get help. If someone has an issue now they can just Google it,” said Rhonda Lorch, a consultant hired by the board of directors to help with the dissolution.

While there is no conclusive proof that Google is directly to blame, Lorch sees the correlation between the advent of Internet proficiency among youth and their aversion to a phone-based crisis line to be too coincidental to ignore.

“When the drop in volume is that huge, it’s seen as a logical explanation,” she said, adding that the low numbers affected volunteer participation, morale and funding – which is ultimately what forced the shut down.

“I think there is a general feeling that they couldn’t think outside the box quickly enough to save it,” she said. “There is a great deal of grief within the [organization].”

The Teen Touch line will now have a voice message directing callers to another crisis line at Klinic Community Health Center.

“Because of the huge drop in volume we didn’t feel the need to create a second line just for teens,” said Klinic’s director of community health and education services, Rosemarie Gjerek. “Our lines are very, very busy, which speaks to the fact that the younger demographic [served by Teen Touch] was not really using phone-line services because they had become more proficient online.”

While Teen Touch will be missed by those in the community, Gjerek sees an opportunity in the online savvy displayed by teens.

“I think this is a [chance] for service providers to look at how we create more accessible youth services” she said.

It’s also clear that while Teen Touch’s phone lines may have ceased ringing, the need for services and support for kids in crisis is not waning.

“Our numbers have really gone up this summer,” said Teen Stop Jeunesse executive director, Patrick LeBlanc. Teen Stop is an organization that offers a drop-in center and a variety of services to youth, one of the keys being face-to-face peer interaction.

Published in Volume 64, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 10, 2009)