COVID-19 has caused unimaginable disruption in America’s public education system. Students are now adapting to digital courses and virtual classrooms, for which no one, including teachers, was prepared. Students are now online 24/7, as technology has replaced both their educational and social interactions. Teachers, students, and families have little to no guidance or information on navigating this “new normal.” Enter the #ICANHELP student interns.

#ICANHELP has been educating students, teachers, and communities on how to fight online negativity since 2013, but the coronavirus presented a new challenge. For the last seven years, the non-profit has spread its message of positive online interaction through assemblies and social media. How do you adapt these lessons to a fully online environment? The solution came from #ICANHELP’s student interns. The students, hailing from high school to graduate school, are connected by one purpose: to be online leaders in a world gone negative. While most of the country’s mentality is weighed down by understandable panic, isolation, and increasing partisanship, Lead Intern Malorie Bournizan saw the quarantine as an opportunity to expand #ICANHELP’s efforts.

“During the shutdown, many students reached out to #ICANHELP eager to get involved and make an impact while at home,” Malorie comments.

So, Malorie and interns from over 17 states and three countries came together to design curricula, engage on social media, and provide support to students, specifically covering topics relevant to today’s technological situations.

As students return to school this fall, we face an unprecedented increase in online engagement and exposure to negative interactions due to virtual learning and isolation from others. The #ICANHELP interns are acting as guides in this new digital-first society by providing education, tools, and support to teens and communities. Interns have noticed that due to increased digital engagement, many people’s mental health is negatively affected. Their solution: create an online workbook to help teens and young adults recognize their anxiety, depression, and stress and provide tools to help them cope. Digital Media Intern Alexa Negrete realized that with a more online course load, students wouldn’t receive the same in-person training they usually would. So she developed a “Train the Trainer” system where students can learn information about identifying and fighting online negativity in a way that is easily teachable to their peers.

“Research has proven that teens are more likely to turn to their peers about online problems over their parents,” Alexa notes, “So the best way to promote being a positive force online is to hear it from the trusted source.”

With schools beginning again in September, especially with the many new formats education is taking, these issues, challenges, and concerns are only becoming more pressing. #ICANHELP is growing its student community with interns and student volunteers to provide a nationwide digital support network that gives students the tools and knowledge they need to thrive online. The organization is also working on creating more resources and tools to help students live and learn in this new digital environment. Co-founder Kim Karr likes to highlight that the organization is “student-run, student-led, student-initiative” based.

“This generation of students is the first to have completely grown up surrounded by digital technology and understand how the mechanics of online interactions work,” she comments. “However, just because you understand how it works doesn’t mean you know the complex social structures and how to protect yourself online properly.”

That’s why these digital natives, the #ICANHELP interns, have taken the time to learn these complexities and lead the way to a safer and more positive online space.

Malorie says that moving forward, “I hope we can help students understand not only how we should act online, but also how they can be a force for good both in their online and offline communities.”

In this time of considerable uncertainty and unrest, the #ICANHELP interns have been able to make positive changes and help more students and educators than ever.

For more information or to schedule an interview to help us spread the word about how students can engage and learn to use digital for good at home and in school, please email #ICANHELP Co-founder Kim Karr.