The dozen telephone lines at the cramped office of Talkline/Kids Line in Elk Grove Village, Ill., ring softly every few minutes. Some of the youthful callers seem at first to be vulgar pranksters, out to make mischief with inane jokes and naughty language. But soon the voices on the line -- by turns wistful, angry, sad, desperate -- start to spill a stream of distress. Some divulge their struggles with alcohol or crack and their worries about school and sex. Others tell of their feelings of boredom and loneliness. Some talk of suicide. What connects them all, says Nancy Helmick, director...
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