Junior Ambassadors.
Hear their stories.
Harrison Haynes
Harrison Haynes, a student at James Madison University, is currently finishing his bachelor degree in Social Work with a concentration on Mental Health Counseling and political advocacy.
Harrison is continuing his education, completing a Master's Program at Virginia Commonwealth University to become a qualified Therapist and Clinical Social Worker.
Beyond academics, Harrison is actively involved in the Wired Human Youth Coalition, a non profit organization dedicated to promoting discussions on online safety, with a focus on empowering young voices to lead the conversation in political advocacy. Harrison also serves as a Survivor Consultant for the End-OSEAC Survivors Council, where he helps develop trauma-informed and survivor-led legislation.
In his free time, Harrison leads a vibrant and diverse “life group” dedicated to helping students find peace in an intentional, spiritual life.
Lauren Embury
As a young student, I am a strong voice for empowering and protecting my own generation from the dangers of social media. It is important to me that I help provide security for youth online and raise awareness of the harm these popular platforms can cause. Alongside the rest of my generation, I have experienced the impact of social media on my lifestyle as well as physical and mental health. Since my hospitalization in 2021 due to my struggles with mental health, I have entirely changed my outlook on the impact that social media has on me and my relationships with others and myself. I can now see and understand that everyone faces challenges that feel insurmountable at times and it isn’t all the time that they get the help they need to face them. As someone in the younger generation who has seen the negative impacts of social media firsthand, I am driven to ensure that all people, are made aware of the dangers of social media and its impacts on the development of young people.
Kismet Tillson Hunter
Hello my name is Kismet. I’m nineteen and in my second year of university. I’ve been addicted to social media before, meaning it was obstructing my mood, academic performance, executive function, sleep and confidence. A couple years ago I invented a sustainable system for my social media use that cut back my screen time tremendously while still being able to stay connected with those around me online
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The reason I am an advocate for RAADD is because I know first hand that thousands of chronic social media users are being intellectually handicapped. Who wants to live their life, studying and working, while experiencing addiction withdrawals on a psychological level? Who would ever want to be so emotionally dependent on dopamine rewards that they are unable to overcome any type of academic confusion? Who would want to feel like they’ve been working for eight hours when they’re only three hours into their shift? And finally, who wants to constantly
feel ashamed about a huge disparity between how hard they want to work and how hard they actually do work? I think this addictive software is preventing people, especially youth from self-actualizing and feeling competent. I’m calling on all youth to reflect on how these apps make you feel and act because this needs to be regulated, if not by the government, then by the users themselves.