Collin Kartchner, a Utah advocate who turned his Instagram account into a national campaign, #SAVETHEKIDS, which urges parents to keep their kids away from social media, has died Tuesday at the age of 40.
His wife, Elizabeth, confirmed the news of his death on Instagram on Wednesday. However, she did not mention the cause of death. Kartchner lived in Pleasant Grove.
On Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said he was “devastated” by the news of Kartchner’s death.
Reyes said in a statement, “Collin was a great partner and warrior in the fight to protect our children and youth. His energy, enthusiasm, and incredible ability to positively impact young minds will be missed tremendously. Our deepest sympathies along with our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
In January 2018, Kartchner learned that a girl named Whitney, the daughter of his wife’s former co-worker, had died of a drug overdose. The girl’s mother said Whitney’s depression and drug use were a result of online bullying about her appearance in junior high.
Kartchner then shared Whitney’s story on Instagram, to which he got a massive response. At the time, he said, “I don’t even know what to say, other than this is a much, much, much, much bigger ideal than I ever imagined, and we’ve got to do something.”
He then launched the campaign that took off within a couple of months, transformed it into a nationwide movement. The mission #SaveTheKids aims “to help people both young and old to rise above the negative effects of social media & screen addiction while showing the world how to use it for doing good.”
In September 2018, Kartchner said, “Smartphones and social media, when we hand them to our kids, it is literally stealing their joy. It is robbing them of the ability to create and feel real connection.”
He even recommended banning smartphones in schools, launching a “National Delete Snapchat Day” and urging school boards to back away from “screen-based learning” programs.
Kartchner also asked parents to keep their phones away and pay attention to their own kids. At the time, he said, “They are growing up in a world that is muckier and scarier than any of us could ever imagine and they need now, more than ever, from you and me, to be seen, to be heard and to be loved.”
Born on July 29, 1980, in Arizona, Kartchner moved to Utah when he was in high school, said a spokeswoman for Save the Kids. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their four children, Avery, Quincey, Lola, and Myles.
