As school districts struggle to support their students' mental health, the startup Sonar Mental Health has built a “wellness companion” named Sonny to help with this task.
As the has described the Wall Street Journal Sonny is a chatbot powered by a combination of human staff and AI. When students send Sonny their questions, the AI suggests an answer, but the humans are responsible for the message.
Sonar signed its first school partnership in January 2024 and says it's now available to more than 4,500 middle and high school students across nine districts. The company says the chats are being monitored by a six-person team with backgrounds in psychology, social work, and crisis support.
CEO Drew Bavir told the Journal that he makes it clear to students and schools that Sonny is not a therapist, and that Sonar employees will work with schools and parents to find therapists for students when appropriate.
A big reason this approach might work for school districts is a shortage of counselors: The Department of Education says 17% of high schools don't have access to a counselor.
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