TV REVIEW : Kids Helping Kids in Washington State

Even if your teen-agers seem to be having a relatively painless adolescence, do them a favor and tune in anyway to tonight’s WTTW/Chicago production “It Shouldn’t Hurt to Be a Kid,” airing on KCET Channel 28 at 8 p.m. (also Friday at 9 p.m. on Channel 24).

Aimed at parents, this nitty-gritty hour profiles Natural Helpers, an innovative program designed to help teens cope with a wide array of problems, big and little.

Students in Washington state secondary schools are surveyed to find out who on campus--fellow students, faculty members, custodians, administrators--they would go to with a problem. Those identified most often are put on a list, eventually winnowed down to include 30 names.

It’s vital to the program that representatives from every group on campus be included. Not just honor students, but New Wavers and “druggies” make the list. Many may have a natural antipathy toward each other, but they have one thing in common: empathy and compassion.

If they and their parents agree, those chosen are put through a remarkable, at times emotionally wrenching training program, under the close guidance of teachers and health administrators.

Then they go back to school and simply do what they’ve been doing all along: listen to their peers.

The difference is that the trained Natural Helpers now have a broad referral and support system to tap, giving them the confidence to reach out to those in need, to supply comfort and in extreme cases, get the troubled teen in contact with qualified help.

At the end of the program, information is given for those interested in starting a similar program. It shouldn’t hurt to be a kid, but it does, far too often.