A new free online tool called Vibe Check is helping teenagers anonymously assess whether they may have violated a partner's consent. Launched in mid-March by the non-profit Safe Before Anyone Else (SafeBae), the tool offers guidance on apologising and avoiding repeat behaviour. As of late April, it had attracted over 3,500 unique visitors.
SafeBae co-founder Shael Norris said the tool is deliberately not AI, but was built by the team based on over a decade of direct work with young people. Users click through questions to reflect on scenarios such as a partner seeming upset or distant, and receive mini-lessons on consent laws, nervous system responses and grounding exercises.
Val Odiembo, a 19-year-old peer educator and youth programmes manager at SafeBae, said many teens turn to AI for relationship advice, which worries her because AI tends to affirm harmful actions. She praised Vibe Check as 'the best thing SafeBae has done since sliced bread'.
SafeBae’s director of strategic initiatives, Drew Davis, noted that young people increasingly turn to online forums with vulnerable questions about causing harm. He said responses often fall into two extremes: telling the person they are irredeemable or absolving them entirely. Vibe Check aims to provide a balanced, evidence-based alternative.
