OneSeventeen Media, PBC
Organization Details
OneSeventeen Media is passionate about making kids’ lives better and easier to manage. By creating relevant mobile tools, we help them navigate their world in a respectful, responsible and confident way to become successful, productive global citizens. reThinkIt!, brought to you by OneSeventeen Media, is a digital mental health platform using chatbot assistants, live chat counselors and What’sUp?, an evidence-based "early detection" assessment, to help kids 10-14 better process difficult emotions, understand their own behaviors, and navigate those of others. Adolescent needs are ongoing, not single issues – they need a structure for continual processing of their daily concerns and reThinkIt! delivers that structure.
Impact Story
The Broader Societal Need: Mental health challenges for adolescents are not a recent phenomenon. COVID-19, however, has introduced two new issues that need to be addressed: 1) adolescents are at home now with little direct access to school guidance counselors; and 2) we still don’t know what will happen in the Fall 2020 school year, but there will be staggered schedules, at best. The CDC reports that “1 in 5 American children ages 3 through 17 — about 15 million — have a diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder in a given year. Only 20 percent of these children are ever diagnosed and receive treatment; 80 percent — about 12 million — are not receiving treatment.” reThinkIt! supports the emotional needs of adolescents – at home, at school or on their own – through early detection of mental health issues before behaviors escalate and consequences become more serious.
Already proven in schools, reThinkIt! helps calm kids down, get them to accept responsibility and communicate more about the issues confronting them. It has helped prevent a school shooting and nearly a dozen teen suicides while also reducing a huge number of disciplinary suspensions. The next development phase will focus on three target markets: 1) Parents – today’s parent needs effective tools to help their children deal with mental health issues in a convenient and confidential format, as they arise; 2) Employers – receive cost savings through decreased employee absenteeism and fewer distractions when the emotional distress needs of an employee’s child are addressed – this is especially urgent as more people are working from home; and 3) Schools – counselors have less direct access to students when juggling online learning and split schedules.
