Promly ChangeMakers, the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide and a group of rising "GenZ" leaders released the following statement in support of the Kids Online Safety Act, and in recognition of Mental Health Action Day, urging Congress to take immediate action to consider and pass the legislation.
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The group applauded Senator Blackburn (R) and Senator Blumenthal (D) for joining forces in a bipartisan effort to pass the Kids Online Safety Act; a serious, groundbreaking legislative effort to address mental health issues associated with the use of social media platforms by children and young adults. In particular, they strongly support inclusion in Section 11 regarding their decision to add a 'Kids Online Safety Council,' which will provide youth representation and ensure that Generation Z has a voice on federal technology policy.
Teen Therapist and Promly Founder, Jen Libby, said: "The current youth mental health crisis is impossible to ignore— rising rates of suicide and exponential increases in depression and anxiety reported among students in both high school and college. It is vital that we evaluate and change tech policy so there is oversight and protection for kids. Moreover, GenZ leaders are the most likely to quickly identify problems and forge policy solutions after years of less than responsible behavior from Big tech. Youth leaders know the pain points and will ensure that emerging policy solutions are relevant and carefully thought through the lens of kids themselves."
Susan Tellone, Clinical Director from the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide stated, "The youth is the most underutilized resource we have and they are on the cutting edge of what is actually happening with their peers especially as it relates to technology. We need to start listening. We need to give them more of a voice if we are going to effectively get ahead of the mental health crisis."
Rose Biedron, University of Miami Student on the Promly ChangeMakers team, "The opportunity for GenZ to actually have a voice and chance to collaborate with policy makers is simply ground breaking and history making."
Christian Elam, 20 year old Promly ChangeMaker, startup founder, and now Co-founder of a new mission focused venture raising 20 million, Bachmanity Capital, stated, "One of the biggest complaints from GenZ is that they often 'don't feel heard or validated' by the older generation, and they find most politicians unrelatable. Yet many of the best and brightest youth leaders are blazing new roads creating tech, AI, and building innovative startups to solve some of our biggest social dilemmas."
Alisha Arora, UNICEF ambassador, who at 14 years old built an AI to detect suicide and self harming behavior, stated, "The fact that the youth voice is actually being written into policy in a more formal way is a huge change in thinking with policy leaders and for that, we are grateful."
Eric Zhu, 14 year old founder and angel investor, now also a Co-founder at Bachmanity Capital said, "Sending Senator Blackburn and Senator Blumenthal a big shout out for breaking out of the politician stereotype and joining GenZ in a serious, history-making-way that we sincerely hope other political leaders copy particularly when they create policies that most impact GenZ and the Alpha generation behind them. We are in this together, so let's work together to really change outcomes."
Media Contact
Jennifer Libby, Promly ChangeMakers, 1 9738678605, [email protected]
SOURCE Promly ChangeMakers
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