New York, NY – 12/11/2025
For Immediate Release:
DRIVEN BY AI AND GUIDED BY HUMAN INSIGHT, TEENBACK EMERGES TO MEET TEENS WHERE ADDICTION NOW LIVES: THEIR PHONES
TeenBack, an AI-powered “sponsor in your pocket” for teens, today announced its development toward a mid-2026 launch, introducing what it calls the first culturally fluent, text-based intervention system built specifically for digital-age pressures and addictions like gambling, vaping, risky drinking, compulsive screen behavior, and cyberbullying.
At a moment when the world has more adolescents than ever before; roughly 1.2–1.3 billion young people ages 10–19 worldwide [1] TeenBack frames digital-addiction pressure as a pandemic-scale challenge hiding in plain sight. In the U.S. alone, children and teens spend around 7.5 hours a day on screens [2], and about half of teenagers report four or more hours of daily screen time, a pattern increasingly linked to anxiety, depression, and disrupted sleep [3].
Layered on top of that screen time are rising risks: tens of millions of teenagers worldwide are already using e-cigarettes [4], and studies estimate that 4–8% of adolescents have serious gambling problems, with another 10–15% at risk [5]. Add in escalating cyberbullying and social pressure, and for many teens, their phones have become both lifeline and hazard.
“Society put the most addictive device ever invented into the hands of teens and told them to figure it out,” said Glenn Pere, founder of TeenBack. “TeenBack is about using that exact same device to give teens a fighting chance, reaching them in real time, in their language, with support that feels like it belongs on their phone, not in a textbook.”
BUILT BY AI, GUIDED BY HI (HUMAN INSIGHT)
TeenBack’s core idea is simple and radical at the same time: use AI to do what no human team can; watch patterns and timing at scale, while keeping humans in charge of culture, tone, and care.
Driven by AI and guided by HI (Human Insight), TeenBack makes every intervention both data-driven and emotionally fluent.
The platform is being designed to analyze behavioral signals and engagement patterns to deliver short, emotionally tuned text interventions at the moments pressure typically spikes, late at night, during big games, around social events, after cyberbullying incidents, or following other known triggers. Messages are intended to:
- Disrupt compulsive loops (scrolling, betting, vaping, drinking cues)
- Buffer the emotional fallout of cyberbullying and social exclusion
- Normalize stepping away, sleeping, or asking for help
- Reflect each teen’s interests, rhythms, and “micro-culture”
- Reinforce healthier choices over time, not just in crisis
TeenBack is not a diagnostic or treatment tool. Instead, it is built as a prevention and early-intervention layer: a first line of digital defense that can sit alongside schools, parents, coaches, counselors, and existing clinical care.
FROM “TALK” TO “SOS”: TURNING TEXTS INTO ACTION
As the TeenBack app is built out for a mid-2026 launch, a core focus is giving teens simple, low-friction ways to respond when a message hits at the right moment.
Teens will be able to reply with plain-language prompts such as:
- “TALK” – to request a deeper check-in or be guided toward a school counselor, trusted adult, or designated support channel.
- “SOS” – to signal that things feel urgent and trigger an escalation path defined by the school, district, or partner organization.
These features are designed to route teens toward real-world support systems—never to replace them—creating a bridge between quiet digital nudges and human care.
OPTIONAL SMART GEOFENCING FOR HIGH-RISK ENVIRONMENTS
In select settings, and only where families, schools, and local regulations allow, TeenBack will also offer optional geofencing capabilities.
This feature is being designed so that, when enabled, schools or parents can establish “high-risk zones” such as vape shops, liquor stores, certain convenience stores, or sports betting environments. When a teen’s device crosses into one of these zones, TeenBack can send context-aware, non-judgmental prompts that remind them of their own goals and give them a moment to reconsider.
The emphasis is not on surveillance, but on context and consent: helping teens get one more chance to pause when temptation is right in front of them.
A GLOBAL MARKET HIDING IN EVERY DISTRICT, EVERY PHONE
TeenBack is targeting a broad but clearly defined market: the institutions and organizations that carry responsibility for teen well-being but can’t realistically monitor every moment of digital risk. That includes:
- School districts and ministries of education
- Youth mental health and prevention programs
- Public health agencies and NGOs
- Insurers and healthcare systems focused on prevention
- Youth-serving community organizations and sports programs
With more than a billion adolescents worldwide [1] and screen time now consuming a large share of their waking hours [2][3], TeenBack believes the “always-on digital sponsor” category will become a new layer in youth protection infrastructure much like helplines, SEL curricula, or school counselors, but delivered through the device that teens already trust and rarely put down.
“As we build out the TeenBack app for a mid-2026 launch, we’re designing it to sit quietly inside the same digital ecosystem that’s overwhelming kids today,” Pere added. “Advertising, algorithms, cyberbullying, and gambling products are all optimized for engagement. TeenBack is optimized for interruption...interrupting the urge, interrupting the chase, interrupting the idea that families alone in this.”
MEETING TEENS ON THE SAME DEVICE FUELING THE PROBLEM
Unlike traditional prevention programs that live in assemblies, posters, or one-off workshops, TeenBack is built on three principles:
- Same Device, Different Voice
The phone is no longer neutral—it’s the front line. TeenBack uses text and mobile messaging to meet teens exactly where addictive prompts and cyberbullying often appear, without adding another app for them to download or hide. - Cultural Fluency Over Clinical Jargon
Content is being developed with input from teens, educators, and mental health professionals to feel real, not remedial. The tone is conversational, contextual, and designed to blend into the flow of a teen’s digital life without losing clarity or authority. - Real-Time Patterns, Real-Time Responses
While respecting privacy and local regulation, TeenBack is being built to adapt to patterns—times of day, streaks of risky behavior, and signs of escalating pressure—to shift from generic reminders to more targeted, timely nudges, and to open doors to TALK and SOS pathways when needed.
ABOUT TEENBACK:
TeenBack is an AI-powered, text-based intervention platform designed to help teens navigate digital-age harms, including gambling, vaping, risky drinking, compulsive screen use, and cyberbullying. Built by AI and guided by Human Insight, TeenBack delivers culturally fluent micro-interventions directly to teens’ phones, offering prevention and early support at the exact moments pressure hits. With TALK and SOS response paths and optional geofencing in approved settings, TeenBack is currently in development and targeting a mid-2026 launch. The platform is built to partner with schools, districts, public health organizations, and youth-focused institutions to add a 24/7 digital layer of protection to the systems that already care for teens.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
press@TeenBack.com
SOURCES
[1] Global adolescent population (ages 10–19) estimated at approximately 1.2–1.3 billion based on recent UN and WHO demographic data.
[2] Average daily screen-time estimates for children and teens around 7.5 hours from large-scale media-use and health surveys in the U.S. and abroad.
[3] Research linking higher screen time with increased risks of anxiety, depression, and sleep disruption in adolescents, synthesized across multiple mental health studies.
[4] International tobacco and vaping surveillance reports indicating tens of millions of adolescent e-cigarette users worldwide.
[5] Youth gambling epidemiology studies suggesting 4–8% of adolescents meet criteria for serious gambling problems, with another 10–15% at risk.
Founder Vision:
FROM ADVERTISING TO ALGORITHMS TO ADVOCACY
Glenn Pere brings decades of experience in advertising and behavioral communication to TeenBack, now redirected from selling products to protecting teens. “For years, my work was about using culture, timing, and emotion to move people closer to a brand,” Pere said. “TeenBack takes that same understanding and turns it toward something urgent: helping teens step back from the next bet, the next hit, the next drink, the next cruel comment, or the next endless scroll—one text at a time, one hour at a time, one teen at a time. As we build this out for mid-2026, the goal is simple: make it easier for a teen to pause than to spiral.”