#SAVETHEKIDS Instagram Influencer, Public Speaker, Collin Kartchner Dies

Collin Kartchner, a Utah-based Instagram influencer who gained national attention for his #savethekids campaign urging parents to keep their children away from social media, has died.

His death Tuesday was confirmed by his wife, Elizabeth, in an Instagram story posted Wednesday. The cause of death has not been made public. Kartchner was 40, and lived in Pleasant Grove, Utah with Elizabeth and their four children.

He spoke to Clark County audiences last Fall in multiple sessions with parents and youth about the dangers of social media, and provided solutions on how to navigate today’s problems.

Three years ago, Kartchner started this would-be second career by making funny and satirical videos for his Instagram account about the internet’s obsession with perfection. Once, he offered advice on how to do children’s hair: “Supes easy. So, step one, I make the nanny do it.”

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who hosted this journalist two years ago as part of our #MarchKindness campaign, said Wednesday he was “devastated” by the news of Kartchner’s death.

“Collin was a great partner and warrior in the fight to protect our children and youth,” Reyes said in a statement. “His energy, enthusiasm and incredible ability to positively impact young minds will be missed tremendously. Our deepest sympathies along with our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”

Kartchner turned his Instagram account into a #savethekids campaign after learning about a teen suicide. The attention he gave to fighting the ills of social media morphed into a national movement, and Kartchner traveled the nation to give presentations and speeches. 

Audiences were always left with solutions after each event.

Here’s a link to one of his presentations in Vancouver: https://youtu.be/8Q_53e283rA