Youth Will Text When They Won't Talk

Youth will text when they won't talk.

Texting is familiar, discreet, and available.

Dear Jerry Wengerd, LCSW,

In a crisis, youth will text when they won’t talk because text messaging is familiar, discreet, and available. That is what my 17 year old son Alex tried to do four years ago before he took his own life on October 11, 2010. Crisis Text Line (CTL) was not available then but now it is. It is free and accessible 24/7.

Because you are a responsible mental health professional, we want to ensure that you are aware of the Crisis Text Line (CTL) -- now available nationwide:

TextLISTENto741-741

Help youth access the support they need by posting and sharing this free resource. You will save lives.

Crisis Text Line(CTL) serves young people in any type of crisis, providing them access to free, 24/7, emotional support and information they need via the medium they already use and trust: text. Here’s how it works:

●A young person texts into CTL anywhere, anytime.

●A live, trained specialist receives the text and responds quickly.

●The specialist helps the young person stay safe and healthy with effective, secure counseling and referrals through text messages using CTL’s platform.

CTL partners with existing organizations that are experienced, highly trained, and well-equipped to respond to teens in crisis: experienced crisis centers, youth-serving organizations, and experts in the youth and mental health fields.

Crisis Text Line started as an idea of several people at DoSomething.org. Watch this TED talk to see where the idea came from:

This message is coming to you fromThe Alex Project. The objective of The Alex Project is to give all youth in crisis the chance to reach life-saving help via texting regardless of where they live. If my son Alex knew that there was a crisis center open 24/7 that would have welcomed a text from him, then he might still be alive today. To learn more about The Alex Project: The Alex Project Fund 501(c)3 provides financial support to crisis text lines.

Thank you for your critical role in saving young lives. Please help youth access the support they need: broadcast the availability of Crisis Text Line throughout your organization and within your networks.Text messaging is familiar, discreet, and available. Youth will text when they won’t talk.You will save lives.

Sincerely,

Dan

Dan Strauss (Alex’s dad)