2020 Salt Lake City UCAP Conference

Can you relate? A teen gets a smartphone and gets on social media. They follow the path so many young people today go down of letting social media affect their feelings of self-worth and self-esteem, and having experiences with FOMO, pornography, sexting and cyber-bullying. The teen’s social media exposure eventually leads to anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Collin started his campaign to #SavetheKids from negative social media influence. “Likes,” “followers,” “Snapstreaks” and “retweets” do not determine your worth.

Collin Kartchner created a popular parody Instagram account simply to poke fun of social media, and used that account to raise awareness of the harmful effects social media can have on our self-esteem and self-worth. Instead of using his large following to earn paid sponsorship dollars, he used his platform to raise $100k’s for hurricane victims, cancer kids, and now has become a social activist raising awareness of social media’s effect on teen mental health. He travels the country speaking to kids, parents, educators and more on the connection between social media and screen addiction on the epidemic rise in teen anxiety, depression, and suicidality. This past year, Collin has presented to 600,000+ individuals at over 500 speaking engagements. His movement to #SavetheKids has gained national attention, earning him a spot on Utah Valley’s Top 40 Under 40, an audience at the NIKE and Adidas Headquarters, and a spot on the TEDx stage in September 2018. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said that “Collin is a WARRIOR for our kids.” He and his high school crush Elizabeth live in Pleasant Grove, UT, with their 4 amazing un-plugged kids.