Teen-Agers Find ‘A Safe Place’ to Discuss Problems on the Air

The caller’s name was Gina. Her problem: grades.

“It feels like you are what your grades are,” she said, her squeaky voice carried over the radio station’s loudspeakers.

Joanna Brown adjusted her headphones and talked into the microphone, telling the girl at the other end of the telephone line that good grades do have their advantages but that they’re not the only thing in life.

Not bad advice, considering that Joanna, a junior at Oak Park High School, is 16. Her co-host, Rob Pegg, a freshman at Calabasas High School, is 15.

And so things went Sunday morning on the first broadcast of “A Safe Place,” an innovative radio talk show that allows teen-agers and their parents to call in and discuss their problems with other teen-agers and a licensed therapist.

Open Forum

The program, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, is designed to provide an open forum for teen-agers and “build mutual respect for parents and teens,” said Ron Bara, a therapist and co-creator of the 30-minute program. It airs at 8 a.m. Sundays on KNJO-FM (92.7), a Thousand Oaks radio station.

“I think we might have helped a couple people,” Rob said as he sat in the broadcast booth after the program.

“I had a real good time,” said Nancy Ashley, the on-air therapist who works with the teen-age hosts. “I think we did real well.”

Joanna and Rob said they were nervous as they sat in the studio before the show but loosened up as it went along.

“Once you get that first word out, it’s OK,” Joanna said.

Pointing to Rob, KNJO announcer Harvey Kern said: “This guy was about to die for the first 3 minutes. Then he was Mr. Cool.”

During the show, teen-agers field calls and dispense advice. Ashley watches over them and provides her advice at the end of each call. Because of there were only four calls during the broadcast, the three spent much of the program talking among themselves about issues facing teen-agers.

Time Slot

Bara attributed the lack of calls to the show’s less-than-desirable time slot. He hopes that as more people hear about the show, it will be moved to a better slot.

Bara fields calls before allowing them on the air. More serious calls, such as those from callers who are abused or have suicidal tendencies, are told to stay on the line after they have talked to the hosts. Then they are dealt with by a licensed therapist.

“We don’t just hang up on a caller with a serious problem and say, ‘Have a nice day,’ ” Bara said.

While the caller is on the air, Ashley said, “we address the issue they’re talking about because someone listening is probably feeling the same thing.”

But the only potentially serious call of the morning never made it on the air. Bara said a girl called the station four times during the broadcast but hung up each time before he could talk to her at length.

“She sounded scared,” Bara said. “These are the people we want to open up to.”

Joanna, who is a peer counselor at school, said counseling is a delicate process.

“You have to be very careful because what you say might change someone’s actions, and not always for the better,” she said.

Bara said the program was named “A Safe Place” because that is what it provides to callers who need help but want to remain anonymous. Bara said many teen-agers are embarrassed to reach out for help.

Routine Calls

For the most part, though, the calls received Sunday were routine. Two parents called in, one complaining of a slovenly child, the other concerned that her children took their school grades too seriously. A teen-age caller wanted to know why her best friend always tries to outdo her. The other was the girl who was worried about her grades.

The program’s teen-age hosts will rotate every 3 weeks from a pool of high school students in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Some, but not all, are peer counselors at school.

The program’s creators ran into a snag with one Ventura County school district after it would not allow its students to participate because it was worried about the liability if something went awry. Now, Bara said, the program deals directly with teen-agers and their parents in finding hosts.