Suicide and self harm have become prominent topics in today’s society, often as a result of stress, depression, family discrepancies, or whatever the issue may be. One of the reasons youth decide to go through with this harm is because they do not have any outside help. Senior Emily Pedone however, has a different outlook on suicide. With the help of her mother, Pedone has started up a charity called Be210, which aims at helping people dealing with self harm or whom are contemplating suicide. People can contact the charity via Twitter and Instagram.
“The charity promotes the awareness of mental health, specifically in teenagers, and helps spread the awareness of suicide,” said Pedone.
Be210 is a non profit organization which is on the rise to not only help Steinbrenner students, but any teenager in need of assistance or guidance in their decisions if they have thoughts of suicide on their minds. Pedone’s inspiration for starting up this charity was due to the issue of suicide in her family and herself. Pedone has begun the process of making wristbands and t-shirts to sell to people in an attempt to help spread awareness of suicide, self harming and mental health.
“Our goals are to spread awareness through wristbands, t-shirts, assemblies, and going to schools to talk to kids in a more effective way,” said Pedone. “People don’t usually listen to assemblies unless a student explains from personal experience and lets them know that there are other ways to handle things. We just want to show these students that there are ways to handle suicide other than self harming.”
Besides the charity, Be210 has a twitter page that allows students in need of help to direct message the charity so they can help the student get through their issue. Pedone is also looking to conduct assemblies to help with this problem. She plans to try and coordinate with River Ridge Middle School.
“We have set up the Twitter to let people tell us their problems so we can help solve their problems. But if their situation is major then we have access to connect the student with an actual suicide hotline to make sure we do everything in our power to prevent students from committing suicide,” said Pedone.
The charity is currently comprised of Pedone and her mother but is growing by the day. Pedone mentioned that official Be210 wristbands and shirts will be ready to ship out to people by the end of the month for the public to consume.
Dillon Schmidt/Staff Writer
