Recently, I listened to an NPR story about a 16-year-old named Natalie Hampton who had experienced very serious bullying and ostracism in school. In fact, it got so bad that she eventually had to transfer to a new school, which ended up working out very well for her. But rather than feel bitter or broken by her experiences, she decided to use them as inspiration to help others just like her…and she did so in the form of an app, called “Sit With Us.”
Launched last week, “Sit With Us” is a free app that helps kids navigate one of the most terrifying areas in any middle/high school: the cafeteria. As Natalie explains:
At my old school, I was completely ostracized by all of my classmates, and so I had to eat lunch alone every day. When you walk into the lunchroom and you see all the tables of everyone sitting there and you know that going up to them would only end in rejection, you feel extremely alone and extremely isolated, and your stomach drops. And you are searching for a place to eat, but you know that if you sit by yourself, there’ll be so much embarrassment that comes with it because people will know and they’ll see you as the girl who has nowhere to sit. So there’s so many awful feelings that come along with it.”
So, she designed this app to help kids like her avoid these painful, embarrassing moments by connecting them with peers who are more than happy to sit with them. Here’s how it works:
…It’s a free lunch-planning app where kids can find lunch tables if they feel like they have nowhere to go. Pretty much, kids can sign up as ambassadors for a Sit With Us club and agree to post open lunches so that anyone who has the app and has nowhere to go can find a table and hopefully make some new friends.”
According to this Business 2 Community article, all students have to do is sign up using their email or Facebook, and then they have complete access to the pool of participating students at their school. The app is set up to be as private as possible so kids feel comfortable reaching out to their peers and don’t have to be worried about others finding out. It even has a chat feature that allows participants to communicate with each other in real-time if plans have to change.
Say what you will about the youngest generations of human beings — that is, those individuals belonging to the long-scorned Millennial and Gen Z groups — but they’re turning out to be quite an impressive and philanthropic bunch.
If you’re interested in checking this app out for your child, you can now get it in the App Store for free!
