Ted Talk speaker visits local schools to discuss the effects social media has on mental health

Ted Talk speaker visits local schools to spread awareness to kids and parents on the effects social media has on mental health. Collin Kartchner is a Social Internet Crusader and Motivational Speaker who travels to various schools across the country to share with kids and parents on the dangers of spending too much time on social media. One of the schools he visited was Thunder Ridge High school. Kartchner was first reached out and invited to meet with schools in the area by Thunder Ridge High School Senior, Sydnee Speirs as part of her senior project. Speirs came across some of Kartchner’s Save The Kids videos online and started realizing how social internet was making her feel down. Speirs says, “I thought maybe it’s time to make a change. Not only for myself, but I now recognize that are so many other people’s lives I want to help.” When Kartchner visited the schools he explains the phycological damage that comes from improper use of social media into simple-relatable terms for teens to be able to understand. The rising number of suicide rates has increased in teens since the invention of the smartphone. Kartchner shares a story of a dear friend of his, who lost his daughter when she developed depression from overuse of social media and online bullying. He describes the parent’s remorse and how they felt that by giving her a phone was equivalent to handing her a loaded gun. As part of his presentation, he talks to parents on how to monitor their kid’s phones so that it doesn’t turn into a deadly weapon.