While school districts find it difficult to support the mental health of their students, a startup called Sonar mental health has built a “well-being companion” called Sonny to help.
As Described in the Wall Street JournalSonny is a chatbot that relies on a combination of human personnel and AI. When students text their questions to Sonny, AI suggests an answer, but it is humans who are ultimately responsible for the message.
Sonar signed his first school partnership in January 2024 and says that it is now available for more than 4,500 students from college and secondary in nine districts. The company claims that cats are currently monitored by a team of six people with history in psychology, social work and online crisis support.
The CEO Drew Bavir told the newspaper that he clearly tells students and schools that Sonny is not a therapist, and that Sonar employees will work with schools and parents to find therapists for students, the case needed.
A great reason why this approach could appeal to school districts is a current shortage of advisers – the Department of Education claims that 17% of secondary schools have no secondary school.
