What if a lot of the "bad decisions" that we think teens make are because they just didn’t have anyone they felt comfortable asking for advice?
During the teenage years, there are many difficult, embarrassing situations where teens need advice, but for teens without a strong support network of friends, family, they don’t have anywhere to turn to for advice other than going online, where much of the advice is not reliable or personal enough to help them.
And for those teens in difficult situations where they would benefit from accessing in-person counselling or phone helpline services, there is a reluctance to do so, because reaching out to “faceless” organisations is very intimidating for teens, the entire process of “what will happen” is not known, and talking to someone face-to face or over phone means that they are no longer in control of how information is shared (as opposed to texting).
And so we've created #IWTK (I Want To Know), which is a question-asking platform designed for every unsure moment and difficult situation in their life, with answers by people teens can see, know, and trust. Teens ask questions anonymously using our app, and get a personal video response within 24 hours from a caring professional.
Working as a therapist, Jamie has counselled hundreds of students, and saw that so many of them were asking similar questions and thinking that they were not “normal”. On the #IWTK platform, all of the questions and answers are made public, so that other teens can see that they're not the only ones going through those challenges. #IWTK becomes a global resource bank for teens to help them find advice for the topics that are too embarrassing or difficult to ask friends, families, or teachers. Imagine how different things would be once teens get reliable, trusted, realistic advice about sex, drugs, dealing with peer-pressure, and their moods.
