Dear Parents, Annie here.
What was the last time you asked your child about how schools going, and their answer was “fine” or “okay”?
For most parents, this occurrence is nothing unexpected. They think that nothing interesting happened or a kid is just too tired to talk about it.
But, have you ever wondered what it is like to be an adolescent in 2020?
Body image struggles, fake friends, mental health, physical health, grades, social media, bad support systems, loneliness. All of these concepts are part of the average kid’s life. Hello, I’m Annie and today I will be talking about how to help our next generation of changemakers.
First, off let’s look into body image.
Newsela.com says “a recent survey found that Instagram and Snapchat are the most likely to cause body-image problems. In particular, young women are at risk. They see endless photos of perfect bodies posted on those sites. Many of the photos are digitally edited to mask people's imperfections. Teen girls can feel ugly in comparison. "This practice is contributing to a generation of young people with body image and body confidence issues," the report said.
Isn’t this just outrageous? Teens get insecure about their bodies by seeing the “perfect” slim figures on social media, but most of the time its just photoshop! Seeing adolescent’s self-confidence being ripped apart by fake pictures on the internet is just heartbreaking!
About a year ago, a video went viral on youtube:
In this short video, girls from 6 years old all the way to 18 years old got interviewed about their experiences with body image. Unfortunately, this interview confirmed that there was definitely something wrong with society and how body image influences kids. All girls said they feel pressured to fit in with their friends, be thinner, be taller, shorter or just feel the need to change their looks.
What do you think about this, parents?
Speaking of looks, next up I would like to bring up social media.
Studies have shown that social media causes teens to be insecure about their lives, relationships, and friends. Research also shows that social media can get addictive like drugs or nicotine. Teens who get addicted find it very challenging to stop staring at their screens 24/7. Because of that their grades, relationships, and friendships lack attention and are in danger of collapsing.
The most shocking part of all of this is that most social media sites are 12 or 13+
Unless there isn’t an adult or legal guardian watching over a kid’s social media profile, they technically aren’t legally allowed on the app!
Newsela.com says Adolescents are sensitive and are easily affected by others' opinions. Sometimes, they misunderstand others and take things a little too personally. This could mean if, for example, a teen saw a rude comment under someone’s post saying “your feet are fat.” The teen could take the comment and apply it to themself. That could provocate thoughts like “wait, are my feet fat?” and “should I go on a diet?” This, my friends, is the spark of an eating disorder or anorexia.
Mental Health
Recently, I read an article about mental health in kids and teens. It said “at some point in life, 13 percent of Americans will cross the line into a social anxiety disorder, meaning insecurity that gets in the way of living the life people want to live. We deliberately pass up class participation points. We pass up promotions because they require public speaking. We turn down invitations because we suspect our friends are only including us out of pity.” In that article, it also states that one in 6 U.S. children ages 2 to 8 had a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. That's about 17.4 percent of all children in the United States! Children’s mental health can be damaged by past trauma, problems at home and... (my least favorite one) fake friends.
Friendships and Drama can really impact an adolescent’s mood, well being, and mental health. I know that when one of my friends is being mean to me, my world turns upside down. I start feeling sick, sad, guilty and just wrong. I think that parents don't pay enough attention to these things.
Pro Tip: If you see your child in a bad or gloomy mood, ask them how their friendships are going! Maybe they had a fight or conflict with a close friend. If so, give them good advice and try to help as much as you can. This will show them you care!
There’s A Bright Side!
Even though this text might seem pretty dark and sad, there still is lots of improvement over the past years! Celebrities have been making campaigns and motivational speeches to cheer their fans up and educate them on reality, teens have been using social media to spread awareness on these topics and help their peers out, and kids from all around the world are making projects to help adolescents cope with modern issues! (See what I did there?)
Earlier this week, I started watching a body image speech from one of my favorite actresses, Lili Reinhart. She talked about her story, how society pressured her into fitting “perfect body” standards and how celebrities struggle with this too. (I really recommend you watch this speech.) This speech really showed me that over time, things will get better and teens all around the world will be more positive!
I know that taking advice from an 11-year-old girl probably wasn’t on your bucket list and you might not think I have experienced. That is partly true but the one thing I definitely have experience in is being a kid. I have experienced most of these situations so my advice will probably be the most honest advice you get about parenting! My biggest advice is to just listen to your child.
Listen to their child’s worries,
Listen to their opinions,
Just listen to them.
