He Lost His 14 Year Old Son to Suicide and Turned the Pain Into a Mission That Is Saving Lives featuring Jason Reid

Jason Reid, a father who lost his 14-year-old son to suicide in 2018, transformed his unimaginable grief into a life-saving mission through the Tell My Story Foundation. He now leads a powerful movement to drastically reduce teenage suicide by 2030, focusing on equipping parents with tools to foster open, compassionate communication. In this raw and revealing conversation, Jason challenges the myth that mental health struggles only affect 'quiet' or 'dark' kids—highlighting that high-achieving, popular teens like his son Ryan were just as vulnerable. He argues that the real danger isn't just social media, but the rise of AI, which risks robbing kids of the growth that comes from struggle, creation, and failure. Instead of using AI to bypass effort, he urges parents to guide kids in using it as a thought partner. Most powerfully, Jason reframes how dads should respond to bullying—not by telling kids to 'walk away' or 'tell a teacher,' but by teaching them to spar verbally, using wit and sarcasm as self-defense. Drawing from his own childhood trauma and the story of comedian Brad Williams, he insists that teaching boys to fight back with words builds resilience, confidence, and emotional intelligence. His new film, *Shift*, shows how every child needs a personal passion—a 'thing' outside school and family—that gives them purpose and helps them weather life’s storms. This isn’t about raising warriors, but about raising prepared, emotionally intelligent men who can protect themselves and others with wisdom, not violence.