Tech

The hell of the school cafeteria might just have been solved

Lunchroom pariahs may be a thing of the past, if one teen gets her way.

A new app called “Sit With Us” – designed by a 16-year-old California girl – helps shy students find potential friends to chow down with in a school cafeteria.

Kids sign up as “ambassadors” and agree to post ” welcome” lunches so that app users can find a friendly table.

App creator Natalie Hampton of Sherman Oaks said that the app eliminates the public rejection and humiliation that often accompanies lunchroom buddy searches.

“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,” Hampton told NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

The 11th grader said that she came up with the idea for the app after eating lunch alone in elementary school all too often.

“At my old school, I was completely ostracized by all of my classmates, and so I had to eat lunch alone every day,” said Hampton.

“When you walk into the lunchroom and you see all the tables of everyone sitting there and you know that going up to them would only end in rejection, you feel extremely alone and extremely isolated, and your stomach drops.”

Hampton added that she wanted to create something that “would address bullying, but in a positive way.”

The free app, which launched last week, is available for download in the Apple store.