What is Llama la Latina?

Llama a La Latina is a research-backed mental health podcast bringing awareness to contemporary youth concerns revolving around their psychological and mental well-being.

Problem

With the lack of physical third spaces for youth, compounded by a rise in isolation and lonliness, youth are inadvertently driving themselves into dangerous online spaces in order to gain a sense of connection primarily visible through youth utilizing AI chatbots to connect to and recieve mental health support from instead of others. Unfortunately, AI chatbots are not equip to handle mental health concerns, and can encourage engagement in harmful behaviors including suicide. Furthermore, the rise in online cultures criticizing emotional expression, such as the "it's not that deep" trend, have been preventing openness in discussing mental health and encourage apathy in order to not be seen as "cringe" online and to peers.

Solution

Llama a La Latina (call the latina) serves to be a welcoming digital third space for diverse youth and young adults, encouraging them to share their concerns and opinions in the current day. We additionally hope to provide an open dialog for youth to discuss their experiences with actionable guidance and information from publications, researchers, and peers. The driving communication will be our Research Learning Club hosted on discord, with the goal of providing a educational digital space to learn about research through examining publications, books, and articles by building the skills necessary to combat the usage of misinformative AI.