Self-described “social media activist” Collin Kartchner will host a series of talks Monday in Idaho Falls, helping teenagers and their parents handle concerns about their online lives.

Thunder Ridge High School student Sydnee Spiers organized the events for her senior project. Spiers regularly uses Snapchat and Instagram and said that while there were plenty of upsides to both sites, she had started noticing more potentially hostile comments and unhealthy anxieties among her friends because of the pictures they constantly see.

“You look and wish that you were living that way and you had all these other things with your lifestyle or your relationships. It’s just a lot of comparing photos and your self-esteem gets lower and lower,” she said.

As the number of social media sites grows and their user base grows, so have the worries about online harassment and mental health. A study from the Pew Research Center found that nearly 60 percent of teenagers had experienced online bullying or harassment. When it comes to getting help with those issues, the students believe their parents have done more to address the issue than any other group, including the tech companies behind the apps.

Spiers’ mother Erika followed Kartchner on Instagram and suggested that his message of social media positivity could be a good avenue for her project. A Utah native, Kartchner has spent the last two years campaigning about the dangers of social media while demonstrating their potential to do good. He crowd-founded more than $400,000 for the victims of hurricanes Harvey and Maria, set up motivational billboards along Interstate 15 in February and tours the country speaking to students.

“I see responses from kids that were at those schools and they talk about how impactful it was in their lives,” Spiers said.

Spiers reached out to Kartchner in October and raised the money for him to give free presentations to students and parents as part of his #SavetheKids campaign. He will spend most of Monday hosting four assemblies for students at the middle and high schools in Bonneville Joint School District 93. After the assemblies, Spiers and other students will be handing out rubber rings that say “Look Up” — a reminder to focus more on the things happening around them than the posts on their phones.

That evening, Kartchner will lead “Save the Kids & Save the Parents,” a free event to answer parents’ questions about the potential risks their children face online, at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center for the Performing Arts. Joining him for the discussion will be a panel including author and Arizona State University adjunct faculty member Katey McPherson, as well as a local counselor and police captain who will offer tips and resources specific to Idaho Falls.

Kartchner then will travel to Rexburg to host similar talks at Madison High School on Tuesday, speaking to students at 6 p.m. and parents at 7 p.m.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Thousands of east Idahoans filled auditoriums this week as a local teen’s senior project aimed to educate parents and teens about the dangers of social media.

Sydnee Speirs, a senior at Thunder Ridge High School, teamed up with self-proclaimed social media activist Collin Kartchner to help parents and students become aware about the impact social media is having on young minds across the world.

“I’ve noticed it in my own life, and I know that it’s not only me, and I know that there’s lot out there too,” Speirs said. “Especially as I was reading things that Collin was posting of assemblies that he was going to and the schools that he was at with these kids responding to him…and I was like, ‘Okay, if they feel that way, I know I feel that way and that there’s so many others that would too.’ So, that’s when we were just like, you know what? This would be such an amazing project to do.”

Kartchner, who originally started as an Instagram personality known for mocking blogs and social media habits, said he’s seen the negative impact social media is having on teens and children. East Idaho parents and students heard that personal message from Kartchner himself at several assemblies and events throughout the region.

“One of the biggest problems we’re facing is that our young people are a lot of them are in the huge, deep emotional pain right now and in crisis,” Kartchner said. “Where I live…in Salt Lake and Utah…since 2011 when all this stuff came out, in seven years, our youth suicide rate has jumped 141 percent. We had a school just last year, one high school, we lost seven kids to suicide.”

 It’s time. I’m teaming up with The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, @protectyoungeyes, state and local leaders to push accurate ratings for Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and other social media apps covered in pornography/adult content your kid can access in 2 clicks—they say these apps are “rated for 12+” because there’s no independent app rating group like we have with video games and movies. Imagine sending your kid to a PG-13 movie and 2 mins into it they’re watching a porno. Enough. Let kids be kids. Watch the story I did with KSL yesterday link in bio. Also- heading to Orange City, Iowa to speak tonight and tomorrow. Swipe left for fliers! Thank you @amberleusink for making it happen for the OC communit 

Running a holiday sale or weekly special? Definitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

Have you opened a new location, redesigned your shop, or added a new product or service? Don't keep it to yourself, let folks know.

Customers have questions, you have answers. Display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.