Disclaimer: The views represented in this article are of the author’s opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Informed Consent (PCIC).
What is Kooth?
Kooth. A word that you’ve probably never heard, let alone know what it means unless you live in the United Kingdom (UK). Kooth markets itself as, “free, safe and anonymous online mental wellbeing community”, accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) that is targeted to young people within the UK. Kooth began in 2004, as an online self-referral service for those who were actively seeking mental health support. Pennsylvania children are the first people in America to participate in this mental health program.
On October 11, 2022, a $3 million grant was signed by Kooth U.S. and the Pennsylvania state Department of Human Services to pilot a digital mental health and wellbeing platform in 30 school districts across the commonwealth. In participating school districts, students in 6th-12th grade are able to sign up and access the platform for free. Kooth’s online platform has anonymous message boards, online chatting with Kooth team members, access to a library that is customized to a user’s needs, and a journaling option.
This tool is not the same as the tele or “e” health one might assume. Unlike the self-referral program in the UK, school guidance counselors refer children to this platform with the intent to replace in-person counseling sessions. There are no Zoom options or in-person sessions. There is no such thing as family counseling. Your child will be essentially communicating with a random Kooth team member via text messaging, and you will have no idea what that team member’s background is or who they are. So far, we know that Kooth is at best a social media platform geared toward mental health that encourages our youth to talk to strangers on the internet without parental consent. Angry yet? It gets better. {sarcasm at its finest}
Pennsylvania is the first state to pilot this mental health or rather social media platform to address mental health in our youth. Pennsylvania was an easy target because minor consent for mental health services in the commonwealth is 14 years and up, per our minor consent act. Said another way, children as young as 14 years old may consent to mental health services without parental knowledge. There is no opting your child out of this service if they are 14 or older.
On a side note: The School District of Philadelphia is running a Kooth Summer Wellness Campaign and are enticing students to sign up and be active in the program so they can earn points for their school. Whichever school earns the most points will earn a visit from a Kooth ambassador and Philadelphia Eagle, Lane Johnson. Wait, this sounds oddly familiar – enticing citizens with various prizes to take a ‘safe & effective’ product.
On June 28, 2023, Representative Barb Gleim introduced bill HB1537. This bill would increase minor consent in Pennsylvania to 16 years of age and hold providers liable for a minor’s decision if parental consent is not obtained.
Currently California is the only other state that has signed a contract with Kooth for 2024. Unlike Pennsylvania, the state of California is recommending Kooth to children through their State Department of Health, not through their schools. “DHCS selected Kooth to support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services to youth and young adults (ages 13-25). Kooth will also integrate with other partners to provide a seamless user experience, including providing services and supports to children (ages 0- 12) and their parents/caregivers”. According to the representative from Kooth at the Wyoming School Board meeting in May 2023, Kooth is in talks with Kentucky, Illinois, Arizona, New York, Kansas and Missouri.
Hidden agenda(s)
After watching and attending school board meetings and townhalls of our state legislators pushing Kooth in NEPA, many grassroots organizations across the state have come together to dig a little deeper. While Kooth is busy selling their platform across the commonwealth to address the mental health crisis, they have admitted at the Wyoming School Board meeting that they will be addressing gender identity issues that arise. Children will have access to gender identity articles written by Kooth team members. Let me be the first to say, I could care less what you identify as but I have a problem that they are discussing this without parental consent and knowledge. I can’t help but ask if they have a hidden agenda?
In an article from Psychology Today, 250 families whose children experienced gender dysphoria during or right after puberty participated in a survey. This survey found that many of these children were directly exposed to one or more individuals who recently came out as “trans”. However, it doesn’t end there. Over 63% of parents reported their child engaged in a significant increase in the internet and social media. I can’t help but ask if this movement is trendy? Will Kooth be a social media platform encouraging our kids in this trend? On social media, Kooth has posted several transgender and LGBTQIA+ articles, podcasts, as posted below.
View above as summary slides regarding Kooth HERE.
Long term safety data
When navigating Kooth’s website, you’ll find the phrase “evidence-based” used a great deal. Parents are reassured that there is a wealth of knowledge behind Kooth. However, their own studies are alarming and this one titled “Pilot evaluation to assess the effectiveness of youth peer community support via the Kooth online mental wellbeing website” admits that little is known about the effectiveness, and potential harmfulness, of online support. Read the underlined statement again. Are you comfortable with your child being a guinea pig? This particular pilot evaluation surveyed young people who first accessed Kooth and then again one month later. (If you read far enough into the study, you’ll find out they accepted teens without parental consent.) Of course, over one month they found improvements across nearly all measures. Is one month really an acceptable time frame to measure improvement and long-term success? In the article, you’ll also find “A 2015 systematic review of online peer-to-peer support for young people with mental health difficulties found improved mental health in two out of six randomized controlled trials, while the remaining four did not demonstrate an improvement.” Then what are we doing?
Charlotte Mindel, a project manager from XenZone (the company that developed Kooth), wrote an article for the BACP, titled “Gender Identity & Suicidal Ideation” in September 2019 that showed a growing trend of users presenting with suicidal thoughts and gender identity questioning. From 2014-2018 there has been a 61% increase in users presenting with suicidal thoughts. During the same time period, there has been a 552% increase in users presenting with gender identity questioning. Those questioning their identity are three times more likely to present with suicidal thoughts than the average Kooth user. Do you know what is not discussed? What happens long term to those presenting with those symptoms. There are no long-term assessments. Again, are you comfortable with your child being a guinea pig?
No regulatory agency in the United States recommends online mental health support for our mental health crisis. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General just issued a social media advisory, and – let’s face it – what separates Kooth from social media? A Kooth practitioner who is trained as an “Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner”? The U.S. Surgeon General states, “The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids’. The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health. …We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.” Why are we allowing schools to educate our children with tablets and laptops? Why are we trying to address a mental health problem caused by social media with another social media platform with no evidence that it will solve the problem?
Data mining our children
If none of the above concerns you, maybe this will. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic right now as well. The future of Kooth is AI according to this Vox Market article titled, “Vox sector special: five companies transforming healthcare with AI”.
“The sensitive data collected from users on Kooth’s digital platform (if the user permits this) is anonymised, and as a result, Kooth can ethically use this wealth of data gathered. Using this information, Kooth then leverages artificial intelligence to improve its service and to support users of the platform in achieving the best possible outcomes for their mental health. The company notes that artificial intelligence is key to improving their services, covering projects such as early recognition of risk, matching service user needs to the most appropriate practitioner, and cutting waiting times for support.”
“The company’s CEO is explicit in their vision for the future of personalised digital mental healthcare: ‘it will look…like Netflix; guiding you to relevant content, self-help programmes, and one-to-one support based on what’s helped people like you in the past.’ The use of AI will be crucial in the company achieving this vision.”
Are you comfortable with companies like Kooth data mining your minor child’s information, possibly without your knowledge? Are you comfortable with your minor children talking to adult strangers that you haven’t met or vetted? Do you let your minor child talk to random kids on the web on a regular basis? Do you want your child to use another social media platform?
I am not comfortable with any of the above.
What can YOU do? It’s time to be vigilant! School districts across the state aren’t only allowing Kooth into schools but they are investigating bringing mental health services in for staff as well. Show up to your school board meetings and pay attention to what is going on. Ask questions and get clarification. Citizen’s Advisory of Pennsylvania members were successful at getting Berwick Area School District to back out after signing up for Kooth. So, it has been done and can be done! Start educating like-minded friends, members of your community, and school board members regarding Kooth. Start asking your legislators if they’ve heard of Kooth and educating them on the potential harmful effects of this program. If you don’t do it, who will?
By: Jessica, PCIC Steering Team Member & Leader of PCIC’s Legislation Committee
ACTION ITEM
PCIC recognizes that there is a growing mental health issue not just in Pennsylvania but across the world, especially after the pandemic. However, we cannot afford to slap another band-aid on a situation hoping that it will hold a gaping wound. Our children deserve better! We need solid evidence-based approaches that will have lasting effects. Kooth isn’t that! PCIC will continue to fight for informed consent, parental rights, and medical freedom.
For the month of July, we are asking you to email your school board members. Ask school board members to keep Kooth out of our schools.
JULY ACTION ALERT:
1. Go to your school district website and look up the email address for each school board member.
2. Prepare an email to each board member. Copy and paste this letter, “Kooth MSG to School Board” into the body of each email, personalizing the greeting for each board member and signing your name at the end.
3. Send each email separately.
4. If possible, sign up to speak at the next board meeting about your concerns regarding Kooth.
AUGUST ACTION ALERT:
For the month of August, we are asking you to discuss Kooth with your legislators. Based on our recent Lobby Day, it is obvious that most of our legislators don’t even know that Kooth exists. We need your help in ensuring our legislators are aware and that our school board members know Kooth is NOT the solution to the mental health crisis in our youth. The best option is to meet with your legislator in addition to sending them an email similar to This letter, “Kooth MSG to Legislators” (You can copy and paste this letter, personalizing the greeting for either your Representative or Senator, and sign your name at the end).
SEPTEMBER ACTION ALERT:
Speak to your school board about Kooth!
1. Find out when your school district’s next school board meeting is scheduled. Most districts have this posted on their website on their district calendar.
2. Sign up to speak.
3. Feel free to read THIS SAMPLE SPEECH to help educate your local school board about Kooth. Or, if you prefer, create your own speech about Kooth.
We can have a big impact locally simply by getting involved and sharing the facts.
Have you completed Part One and Part Two of our action alerts?
If not, there’s still time!
Action Alert Part One asked you to send emails to your school board members.
Action Alert Part Two asked you to send a letter to your state representative and state senator. (Find your state legislators HERE.) *Added 9/26/2023 Handout for Legislators – The Truth About Kooth
Need to Identify Who Your Legislator Is? Enter your address here and click “Search”. For PA state legislative activities, you’ll want to note your PA House and PA Senate representatives. Also note the districts they represent. Click on the names of your representatives to find brief biographies, committee assignments and contact information. Select a “Stay Connected” option to sign up for newsletters via their individual websites and to follow your state representative on social medias.
Need to Identify Which School Officials to Contact? Do a simple browser search for your school name/district and “board members”. Or, enter as many details as possible here and click “Search” to find links to your school district. For this action alert, we’re asking you to contact board members but you can also reach out to School Principals, Superintendents, Nurses, Counselors, and Psychologists.
Want to know which school districts are already participating in this program? Visit Kooth’s website for the full list, here.
Additional Podcast coverage on this topic can be found @ What A Week! #50 – Ed Dunn and Amy Segner Carrozza and Citizens Advisory Podcast: EPISODE 4 and Radically Genuine Podcast with Dr. Roger McFillin #96. BREAKING: Schools pilot Mental Health Apps behind Parents’ backs
Additional news regarding Kooth: Republican legislator champions Kooth, Stephanie Coxon’s America Out Loud article