Student Safety Statement

What Margin is, and isn't

Margin is a writing mentor, not a crisis counselor, therapist, or emergency service. It's built to help you think through your essays — not to diagnose, treat, or handle a mental health or safety crisis. If you're in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number.

If something you write raises a concern

Margin's feedback comes first. Safety review will not ordinarily delay delivery of your writing feedback. Alongside that feedback, in a small number of cases, something you write may be flagged for a real person to look at afterward. Any safety action affecting a user requires human review.

This might happen if what you write suggests a current risk of serious harm, abuse, or neglect — where intervention may be legally required or reasonably necessary to protect someone. In practice, that most often means:

• You or someone else may be in immediate danger
• You may be experiencing ongoing abuse or neglect
• You're having thoughts of harming yourself, in a way that sounds current rather than something in the past
• Someone has described a specific, credible plan to harm another person

Most essays that touch on hard things — grief, past struggles, difficult family history — don't fall into this category at all, and won't be flagged. Reflecting honestly on your life is exactly what these essays are for.

What happens if something is flagged

A real person reviews it. Margin may, in its discretion and consistent with applicable law, respond in a few different ways: nothing further, since it turns out to be reflective rather than urgent; a gentle note pointing you toward real support resources; or, in a genuine emergency, contacting someone who can actually help. Margin will respond in a manner reasonably designed to protect the safety and privacy of those involved while complying with applicable law.

Your privacy

Reviewers access only the information reasonably necessary to evaluate the safety concern — not your entire essay history. See our full Privacy Policy → for details on what's stored and how it's protected.

If you're struggling right now

You don't have to wait for anything in an essay to be flagged. Our resource center → has real, current crisis and support resources — including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) — available any time, with no essay required.

If you have questions about this statement, please contact hello@margin.education.

We may update this Safety Statement as Margin evolves or as required by law. Last updated: July 27, 2026.