SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Throughout working with Governor Sherrill, Adam became fond of public speaking. He spoke at a press conference, the Mikie Sherrill Obama rally, and the Transition Action Policy Summit - all on the topic of his story and youth mental health. Aside from speaking engagements with Governor Sherill, he also spoke at the Beat The Winter Blues event in Montgomery, New Jersey. He has experienced both speaking to adults and kids and has become knowledgeable on the impact through feedback. Adam hopes to continue to spark hope and interest on the topic of youth mental health. Below you can find all four speeches along with a place to get Adam's contact info.
Mikie Sherrill Press Conference - Kids Online Safety
Hello. My names Adam. I am sixteen years old. And I’ve grown up in THE social media generation. Most online platforms allow people to make negative comments without worrying about any repercussions. People online say things they wouldn’t say to someone’s face. Even when I’ve reported negative comments, it seems like it’s not being reviewed in context. It’s as if an AI bot is evaluating the comment and not understanding the harmful intent.
When I was in middle school, I had a series of instances of online harassment and bullying via Snapchat and Discord. Disturbing and vile comments about me were made. Nothing was flagged as inappropriate or bullying. Creating a safer online environment and holding big online platforms accountable such as what Mikie Sherrill is advocating for will help prevent so many young kids from having to deal with online harassment and bullying.
Online platforms can be used for good but can also be used for bad. Educating kids on how to handle instances of online harassment or bullying is a key component to creating a safe online environment for kids to enjoy.
Thank you.
I’d like to introduce my mom Robin Weiner Renteria
Mikie Sherrill Obama Rally
Hello. My name is Adam Renteria. I am sixteen years old, and I’ve been negatively affected by big tech companies since a younger age than I am now. From threats to bullying, I have experienced it all online. Not once was a harmful message sent to me flagged or reported as bullying or inappropriate. Any one of those messages could’ve been what tipped me over into thoughts of suicide. And at one point it did. In 2023, a year after I lost my brother to suicide, I was sent rape threats and was being inappropriately sexualized by classmates via Snapchat and Discord. These messages were direct and clear in their wording. Yet nothing was done. It is a necessity for big tech companies to have better software that will report cyber harassment and bullying. The only escape I could think of during those tough times was scrolling on social media. Except it was also contributing to my downward spiraling mental health. It would feed me video after video promoting unhealthy coping mechanisms such as self-harm and disordered eating. Mikie Sherrill will advocate for putting in place age-appropriate design codes that prevent feeding harmful content to kids.
I’m sure if my parents were given a warning by Snapchat or Discord that it could potentially be detrimental to my mental health they would’ve opted out of letting me have it. Big tech companies providing warning labels before you create an account could save so many young impressionable kids from possible problems due to cyber harassment, bullying, or even harmful algorithms. Mikie Sherrill will force social media companies to display warnings on their platforms about potential negative issues that could impact a kid if engaged with the app. Parents' number one job is to protect their kids. But, parents can’t protect their kids if they don’t know what they are trying to protect them from, especially online. Mikie Sherrill will also develop a public awareness campaign to educate parents on best practices for keeping children safe online.
In 2023 during all the online torment, I was very school-avoidant. I eventually had to leave my public school and go to a private school where they had resources my public school did not. Resources such as a school therapist and psychologist that I could rely on and trust. Mikie Sherrill will advocate for more mental health resources in public schools. Having a person I could rely on in school and go to for simple or complex problems going on in my day-to-day life was truly life-saving. Imagine how many lives would be saved if those resources were provided in public schools throughout New Jersey.
Going to school for me in 2023 was a challenge, and when I did go, I barely participated which made me fall behind academically. Struggling with my mental health and on top of that being behind in schoolwork just made me not want to try to participate even more. A school-provided tutor would’ve been very helpful for me in catching back up to grade-level math, science, and other mandatory classes. Mikie Sherrill will push for high-impact tutoring programs for students all across New Jersey. This would help so many struggling students take one less thing off their already heavy shoulders.
Whether you are a parent or not, kids' safety should always be a number one priority. After all, we are the next generation of doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, and so many more professions which are a necessity to citizens throughout New Jersey.
Please vote for Mikie Sherrill. We kids need you to do it for our safety. Thank you and have a great day.
Transition Action Policy Summit
Hello. My name is Adam Renteria, I am sixteen years old and have been involved with Governor Elect Mikie Sherrill’s campaign since September. During her campaign I talked a lot about my mental health and the struggles I have experienced due to a series of events in my life. I was bullied throughout elementary school and I struggled with anxiety and depression. Then, middle school came around and within the first three months of seventh grade, my big brother died by suicide — while at the same time I was being molested by a peer in my new school. The following year, after I changed schools and was trying to recover, I ended up the victim of violent and disgusting threats communicated through major social media platforms. To say my mental health was a wreck is an understatement.
Despite all of that I consider myself lucky.
Why?
Because I ended up at a therapeutic school where mental health education and resources are part of everybody’s day. Stigma free. Nothing like it was at my prior schools.
Because of my experiences, I have become an advocate for youth mental health resources in schools across New Jersey.
I believe it is the foundation of a successful future — a foundation that should be set in stone as early as possible. The best place to build that foundation is the place where kids spend so much of their adolescence; school. I am fortunate enough to go to a therapeutic school where resources such as a school psychiatrist and therapist are available and woven into the curriculum. The personal growth I’ve experienced myself and seen in my classmates due to these resources being available is tremendous. Having them in schools across New Jersey could be life changing for so many students.
Mikie Sherrill is prioritizing the mental health and safety of New Jersey’s kids. She is a great leader because she is responsive to feedback. I am here today because my mom offered our house to the campaign to film ads. It turned out to be a chain of events that would change my life. The ads being filmed were focused on teen mental health and online safety. The campaign team listened to my mom tell our family’s story and asked if she would be in one of the ads. She told me about it and I said they should talk to an actual teen if they wanted to know how to help us. My mom relayed that message to the campaign and next thing I know, I’m surrounded by lights and cameras being interviewed about my ideas and experiences.
Next, my mom was asked to join a press conference about online safety for kids and she asked if I could come along to observe the experience. Again, Mikie’s campaign one up’d and said not only could I come, they’d love it if I spoke for a couple of minutes. So I did.
A couple of weeks later, they asked me to speak at her rally with President Obama. I spoke to a huge crowd in Newark about my life and told them that we kids needed all of them to go vote for Mikie. Then she won the election and I thought I had just finished up the coolest experience of my life.
But Mikie didn’t stop there. She asked me to join the transition action team on youth mental health and online safety. She is actively seeking out voices like mine. Again, because she is a great leader and genuinely cares. I can tell she’s sincere because us kids can always tell when adults are full of it.
Mikie Sherrill understands that our voices are just as important as all the experts because we’re the experts in being a kid. We may not know how to fix it but we do often know what needs to be fixed. And there are things that sound great on paper as a policy, but we can tell you as kids that idea is not going to work in reality. Mikie understands that at the end of the day it is the kids who feel the effects of these policies and programs.
She is creating an environment where our voices are heard and we can be part of the solution.
I’m grateful for it and for the opportunities that have come my way ALL because,
she cared enough to listen.
Thank you.
Beat The Winter Blues
Good morning everyone! My name is Adam Renteria and I am sixteen years old. Thank you so much to Mayor Singh for inviting me here today and to Sigrid Solis for coordinating via email with me. I know we are all here to find ways to get through tough times. To find things we can do to improve our mental health. I have one word I want you all to remember. Resilience.
My life story is one of resilience. Of lots of ups and downs, of facing difficult challenges and working through them. I’ve worked hard and had a lot of help along the way. It’s a difficult story in parts but please stick with me. I promise it gets better.
It. Gets. Better.
I wish I had known that earlier in my life. You see, I’ve lived through some experiences that left me feeling as low as a person could feel. Several times, it got so dark that I contemplated taking my own life because I just couldn’t see a way out of the darkness and pain. I’d like to take you on a journey with me to explain how I got from there to here.
The first thing you need to know about me is that I am adopted. My parents brought me home from the hospital when I was six days old. They fostered me and after 11 months, they were able to adopt me. Sounds like a happy ending, right? And mostly it was. I grew up surrounded by the love of both my parents, and mostly of my big brother, Max.
I was a really active little kid. Eventually, right before kindergarten, I was diagnosed with ADHD. Apparently during the evaluation I literally attempted to climb the walls!
That summer, I gradually began to realize that if my parents adopted me, that meant there was someone else out there who gave me birth to me but I didn’t know her.
I started to get very sad and I stopped trusting anyone. I wondered if my parents would leave me too. It was a very scary time. It brought up emotions I didn’t know how to describe or manage.
By first grade, my parents had been able to mostly reassure me that they weren’t going anywhere and I actually became a little proud of being adopted. I told all my classmates in my new school. It was sort of “Hi. I’m Adam. I’m adopted!”
One day, a classmate sneered at me and told me “There must be something wrong with you. That’s why you’re adopted.” That one comment burdened me with the constant thought that I just didn’t belong. It devastated me for years to come.
Over the next couple of years, the girl taunted me regularly. I was really struggling. My parents found me a therapist and she helped me learn some coping mechanisms. I started getting extra help in school and my parents made the decision, with my doctor, to have me start taking medication to help me focus.
By third grade, I was doing better in school and had moved to a larger one, so I didn’t see that girl so much. Things were going pretty well.
Then fourth grade came and COVID happened. You know what doesn’t work well for kids with ADHD? Sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time.
Once I could go back to physically being in school, things were improving again. I had social interaction, I could get up from my seat and I had teachers who could help me. But bullying started back up too. By the end of sixth grade, my parents made the difficult decision to put me in private school. At the same time, my older brother was graduating from high school. The COVID era had been really hard on him.
I spent the summer in camp with my best friend and had a blast! At the end of summer, we drove my brother up to college and we moved. It was hard to leave the house where I had mostly grown up.
Moving is not easy! Starting middle school is scary.
Both at the same time? Terrifying.
And my big brother was away for the first time. Life was pretty unsteady. But I started school, made a couple of new friends and developed a crush on a fellow student. Normal middle school stuff, right?
Unfortunately for me, that kid I developed a crush on? He turned out to be a predator.
He took advantage of me not having many friends yet. He began to isolate and emotionally abuse me. The abuse escalated to become physical, then sexual.
I didn’t tell anyone.
By November, my mental health was at an all time low. Then we got the worst news ever. My older brother died by suicide. I felt then that I couldn’t tell my parents what had been happening. I couldn’t tell them that I had been having my own suicidal thoughts, because I didn’t want to make them even more sad than they already were.
We all struggled so much that winter. And we all started seeing therapists to help us. I had already been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. But now I was diagnosed with PTSD. My doctor recommended a psychiatrist, who I still see to this day..
By January, being around this kid every day made school completely toxic for me. My parents could see it, and after lots of talks, without me explaining the real reason why it was so bad, my parents decided to withdraw me from the school and my mom began home schooling me.
It was a relief in many ways, but in others it was hard because now I had no social interaction with anyone. It was like covid all over again but without my brother and with parents who cried all the time. I became very isolated and really withdrew, even from my parents.
My new psychiatrist changed my medication and added some new ones, I saw my therapist twice a week and things got a little better.
We decided to move back near our hometown. I started school, another new one again, this time in eighth grade. I made some new friends again. I thought things were maybe moving in the right direction. Then a couple of kids began to harass me.
In class. At lunch. On group texts. On discord and snap chat.
They began threatening me, bullying me for being gay. The online messages got more and more violent and I was scared. My mental health tanked. Again. I was still working with my psychiatrist to find the right combination of medications and seeing a therapist weekly but being in that environment every day was something that even medications and therapy couldn’t overcome. So my parents took me out of school again.
It was exhausting for all of us. This time though, the school district worked with my parents and everyone agreed that I needed to be in a therapeutic school.
Off I went. My fourth school in three years. Wow. Are you exhausted yet? I know I am!
And I was then too. But slowly, as we kept tinkering with my medications, finding the right combination to treat my depression, my anxiety, and my ADHD.
As I kept seeing my therapist.
As I kept participating in individual and group therapy at school, as I talked more with my parents, it slowly got better. When I say slowly, I mean SLOW-LY!
But I kept at it. I worked hard with my therapists. I kept taking my medication and I found myself in a place where I could really focus on my future. I was able to stop the intrusive thoughts that kept me from thinking life was not worth living. I joined clubs at school. And I even started working harder in my classes.
Despite all of this trauma happening in my life, I can honestly say now that I consider myself lucky. Sounds crazy, right? But I do.
Because I was lucky to have parents who could find the right resources for me. Because we found the right combination of medications for me.
Because I am able to attend a therapeutic school, where part of what we learn that needing therapy or medication is not a weakness and that a mental health diagnosis is not a bad thing.
And finally, because I was able to keep using my resources to build, and then recognize, my own resilience.
Working hard is paying off.
I’m also very lucky because of a series of wild coincidences that ended up with me involved in politics.
I have been given a platform that I use to advocate for mental health resources for all kids in New Jersey.
Every kid deserves access to affordable local therapy. Every kid deserves mental health support at school. Every kid deserves to know that resilience is a skill that is learned, not that we are born with or without.
We all deserve to know that it can get better. It takes work. So much work. But it can get better. I wish my brother had known that.
I know my life is pretty great right now. I also know that I will face many challenges as I continue to get older and sometimes, my mental health will suffer. But I also know that I am resilient and that I can get help managing what life throws at me. I know I don’t have to do it on my own. I know that having a mental health diagnosis is not a sign of weakness. And that knowledge helps me remember that it can always get better.
Thank you.
