Why did we start the glowmedia project?  I can tell you that we founded the organization because nearly a third of teens suffer from an anxiety disorder.  Ninety-five percent of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.  One in six teens admits to taking prescription medications to get high or change their mood.  All of those statistics are true, but beyond the numbers and statistics are the stories, including a painful personal story.  I lost my son, Charlie, in 2011 due to an Oxycontin overdose.  He had suffered from anxiety, depression, and substance misuse for much of his short life.  Even with the support of a loving family and resources to help treat him, it was not enough.   We know that we are not alone in our grief.  Similar stories play out every day in households, schools, and communities around the country. Just like physical health, mental health affects us all.  But unlike physical health, many young people coping with mental illness and difficult emotional issues have little support. If a student broke his arm playing basketball, he will return to school in a cast.  Everyone, including his teachers will ask how he is.  He will receive special treatment, maybe extra time to get to and from classes. People will offer to carry his books.   If a student suffered a panic attack and missed a day or more of school, would his fellow students and teachers treat him any differently when he returned?  There would be no outward sign of the emotional toll the panic attack had taken on this student.   Schools lack the funding and resources to address mental health in a meaningful way. The stigma associated with mental illness can sometimes be enough for families to avoid seeking treatment.   While touring our first short film, which addressed prescription medicine misuse, we met with educators, students and families in cities across the country. The response to our first film was overwhelming positive and the most frequently asked question, not only by adults, but students, was “What else do you have”?  That question spurred us to take our organization to the next level and create a library of short films addressing various sensitive topics affecting today’s youth.