Are You There? By Nancy Lublin
1617 Words7 Pages
“Are You There?”
To begin, it is evident today that teenagers love being connected with their friends and family all at the tip of their thumbs. They love texting. According to a study by Amanda Lenhart, 88 percent of teens use a cell phone or smart phone of which 90 percent of them use text message. An average teen sends 30 texts per day. (Lenhart) As shown in this study, teens have easy access to text messaging. In her Ted talks called “Texting That Save Lives” and “The Heartbreaking Text That Inspired a Crisis Help Line,” Nancy Lublin talks about how she received disturbing text messages from young people that mentions how they’re being bullied, wanting to commit suicide, cutting themselves, and being raped by their father. She was exceedingly emotional when receiving these texts. She felt like she had to do something about it. So, with her knowledge about teens and the power of texting, Nancy Lublin created something that would help save these young kids’ lives, the Crisis Text Line. (“Texting”)(“Heartbreaking”)
Previously, Nancy Lublin was the CEO of DoSomething.org, a site about young people and social change. Stated on the website, over 3.2 million students are bullied each year. Many of these kids skip school because of bullying. (“11 Facts…Bullying”) How are they going to get an education and succeed in the world if they’re too terrified to go to school? Bullying is not just pushing or calling people names to their face, bullying also comes in a different form called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of harmful text messages to hurt somebody or posting embarrassing photos on social media websites. Kids that experience cyberbullying are most likely to have a drug or alcohol problems, a disinterest in school, and...
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...sage that affected her the most, the one that had the most influence on the creating of the Crisis Text Line. Young people shouldn’t have to feel alone when they’re having hard times. Young people shouldn’t have to be so afraid of going to school because they’re being bullied by their classmates. They shouldn’t feel like they have to commit suicide because of all pain that is in their life. They shouldn’t have to resort to cutting to relieve emotional pain or desolation. Young people shouldn’t have to worry about being sexually abused by the one’s closest to them. It happens, though, none of which should, but it does. Are we going to sit around and let it happen, or are we going to do something about it? Are we going to show young people today that we love them and care about them and want them to succeed in life? Are we going to show them that we are there for them?