Nightline is the name given to various confidential overnight listening services run by students for students at universities around the world. Individual Nightlines are autonomous organisations, but many choose to affiliate to National Nightline, which is an umbrella organisation founded to facilitate cooperation at a national level.
There are now Nightlines at 35 universities in the UK which are affiliated with National Nightline, as well as several others which are not affiliated. In later years, other universities in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
also started Nightline services.
History
The first Nightline was set up in 1970 at
Essex UniversityThe University of Essex is a British campus university located near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965, the University has established itself as a centre of excellence for humanities and social sciences, and is highly rated in the United...
by a former director of the local
SamaritansSamaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in distress or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline. The name comes from the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, though the organisation is not...
branch and the university
chaplainA chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organised as a mission or church, or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; lay...
. The helpline was founded on the understanding that some students would be reluctant to approach outsiders for help and would find it easier to speak to another student. The idea caught on and spread first to
Imperial CollegeImperial College London is a British university in London specialising in science, engineering, medicine and business....
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
in 1971, and then to many other universities around the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
During the early 1980s, individual Nightlines started to work together to share skills and ideas, such as publicity, recruitment and training concepts. The umbrella organization National Nightline was founded in 1991 as a formal structure for this work, and represents all affiliated organizations, but has no authority over them. It became a registered charity in early 2006.
National Nightline also hosts an annual conference of member Nightlines every year. Conferences form a primary method of communication within National Nightline, as a means of disseminating vital information and ideas - examples include Lancaster Nightline's conference on training issues (2006) or the Oxford Nightline conferences on abusive callers (2005, 2006, 2007). Conferences are often disguised as 'welfare seminars or events to maintain the anonymity of volunteers.
Philosophy
All Nightlines adhere to core principles of anonymity, confidentiality, and non-directionality. A number, though by no means all, choose to formalize that as the 'Five Principles':
- Confidentiality - calls are strictly confidential between Nightline and the caller.
- Anonymity - callers are not required to give any identifying details to the Nightline volunteers taking their calls. Volunteers must also keep their work secret where possible, which often involves not revealing to their peers that they are Nightline volunteers.
- Non-Judgemental - Nightline will not impose any views or prejudices on callers.
- Non-Directional - Nightline will not push callers towards any course of action, but will try to help them come to their own decisions.
- Non-Advisory - Nightline does not give out advice, but will pass on factual, impartial information if appropriate.
Structure
All Nightlines operate a telephone listening service, some providing separate lines and telephone numbers for listening and for information. Some also offer a 'drop-in' service, where callers can talk to a Nightline volunteer in person. Many Nightlines offer e-listening (contact by email) as an additional means of support. Most recently, some Nightlines have begun offering a confidential online listening service, a confidential text-based one-to-one chat conducted via a secure internet connection. In addition to the various listening services, some Nightlines supply condoms, pregnancy testing kits, personal attack alarms and women's sanitary products. A few even offer a 'bed for a night' service where students can come to Nightline to sleep, and some offer a camp-bed/mattress hire service for those students with friends visiting.
Nightlines are staffed by student volunteers, who are trained to take calls in accordance with the principles and policies of their organization. Nightline volunteers are not paid for their time, however some Nightlines have paid co-ordinators.