Bullied Teen Creates App That Helps Students Find People To Sit With At Lunch

It's called "Sit With Us" and it's beautiful.

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Everyone knows that the school cafeteria is a cutthroat place, filled with its own strict social hierarchy and bizarre rules of how to dress and behave.

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And for students who are new or don't easily fall into any one clique, choosing a table to sit in can be an anxiety-inducing process, and getting rejected is just plain traumatizing.

16-year-old Natalie Hampton from Sherman Oaks, California, knew that pain firsthand when she ate alone all throughout seventh grade at her all-girls school. Being squad-less made her especially vulnerable to bullying, and she endured several awful episodes, such as being threatened with scissors and tripped as she ran down the hall.

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"I was a shell of the person I was. When I walked into a classroom I was planning an escape route," Natalie told The Daily News.

Natalia is now a junior at a different school where she's happy, but she hasn't forgotten the pain of her experiences with bullying, nor can she ignore that this is something that happens to thousands of kids every day all across the country.


So this teenage entrepreneur launched a free app called "Sit With Us," which helps students find people to sit with at lunch. The way it works is that students can designate themselves as ambassadors who post open lunches, inviting anyone who doesn't have anywhere else to sit to come sit with them.

How is it different from just doing a welcoming wave at someone who's awkwardly looking around the lunchroom?

"[At my old school] I tried many times to reach out to someone, but I was rejected on many times," she said. "And you feel like you're labeling yourself as an outcast when you ask to join a table with someone you don't know. This way it's very private. It's through the phone. No one else has to know. And you know that you're not going to be rejected once you get to the table."

The app launched on September 9th, and according to Natalie, it's already had very positive responses. It's a brand new world.

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