If you don’t feel like reading the blog, don’t worry! You can watch it as a video instead!
If you are like me, you are probably a mom who is watching how fast kids grow, and who is afraid of how easy is for our tweens and teenagers to forget their worth just to try to fit into a society that weights appearance above values.
The effect of social media on teen self-image is a growing concern for many of us. Tweens and teens today are constantly navigating online, comparing themselves to others, and convincing themselves that perfection really exists. In this blog post, we will discuss the effects social media have on our teenagers, and we will offer some tips on how to use skincare rituals to help your children maintain a positive view of themselves.
5 negative effects of social media on teenagers
It’s no secret that social media has a profound effect on the lives of teenagers. For better or for worse, social media plays a huge role in how teens interact with the world. While there are certainly some benefits to using social media, there are also several negative effects that can be damaging to a teenager’s self-esteem. Let’s take a look at those I consider the most important ones:
Social media addiction
According to CNN, US teens’ are spending more than three hours per day on-screen, and could conclude that those teens entering more times to social media in a day (more than 100 times for example) are 47% more distressed on average than those who entered just a few times a day. Also, for those teens dealing with mental health issues, the excessive social media usage showed to make them more vulnerable (Check out this research here).
The thing is that social media is addictive. Studies show that receiving «likes» on social media platforms produces the same effect in the brain as eating chocolate. The feeling is so pleasant that the desire to keep receiving the positive feedback triggers the need of repeating it once and again which leads to an increased teen social media presence.
Poor body image
Social media platforms present an unrealistic standard of beauty that is unattainable for most of us but especially for young people. When teens compare themselves to these fake ideals, peer pressure increases making them feel inadequate, humiliated, and with a negative body image.
Poor Sleep Quality
The increase in the use of social media by teens is also associated with sleep disturbances. Research suggests (read here) that how our teenagers use social media is directly related to poor sleep quality which is also related to teen mental health and depressive symptoms.
Cyber-bullying
Unfortunately, one of the most negative ways social media affects teenagers is through Cyberbullying. It includes the spread of false rumors, mean comments, and name-calling, among others, and happens 24/ hours a day, seven days a week. The effect of this constant and usually type of bullying has called into question social media safety in young people.
Low self-esteem
Social comparison is one of the main reasons why social media could be responsible for teens’ low self-esteem. When young people compare themselves to others, they are more likely to focus on their own flaws and shortcomings which leads them to feel bad about themselves.
Are there positive effects of social media?
For sure, there are. Social media can be used as a tool to connect with friends and family, share important news and experiences, engage in hobbies and interests, stimulate self-expression, entertainment, and even investigate.
The problem is not in social media itself, but in teen social media use. Too much of anything is never a good thing, and this includes social media.
What parents can do to combat the negative effect of social media?
The first step is acknowledging that social media is part of teenage life and that it can have both positive and negative effects on our children. Many parents think that preventing young people to create social media accounts or limiting their life online is the answer but the truth is that this is not precisely a realistic approach especially, during this period of identity development.
However, there are practices that many teens can put in place to reduce the negative influence high screen time has both on their brains and their emotions, and provide emotional support and improved self-image.
Practices to regulate online world derived emotions
Some things you can do as a parent to preserve your teenager’s mental health and reduce the effects of social media despite being active on any social media platform include:
Physical activity
When we move our body produces endorphins which are responsible for making us feel good. So, encouraging your teen to do some physical activity every day, can not just keep them from spending time online but also, can bring to their brain a similar satisfaction to that experienced when navigating social media.
You don’t need to set up a complex game to exercise. Time spent in daily life activities like walking, observing nature, and having fun while moving is an excellent alternative that will help you keep your teen’s mental health in place.
Breathing
When we feel overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed (which are all symptoms of excessive social media use) our breathing becomes shorter and faster. This type of shallow breathing prevents oxygen from getting to our brain which keeps promoting anxiety. Taking deep breaths regularly helps young people to oxygen better their brain, relieving negative emotions and promoting their overall well-being.
Mind-Body connection
Young minds are usually distracted by a million things at the same time. Social media use is accompanied by two or three tasks at the same time. A good example could be a teen who is scrolling social media while watching a tv show and listening to music. Sounds familiar?
Being aware of everything around is equivalent to not being aware of their inner selves, which is a sure path to teen depression. Promoting a mind-body connection helps them to be present in the here and now, which is a fundamental step to preserving their mental health.
Follow Us on Instagram to Get Some Free Gifts!
How skincare rituals can promote the mind-body connection?
We have now seen how social media use and higher screen time spent online are directly related to teens’ lower self-esteem and mental health problems. If we would like to summarize why this happens I would say that it is because the teen’s inner power is constantly given to an external entity like social media for example.
If we approach teenagers to convince them of how important is to start a mindfulness practice they would probably laugh in our face. However, if we give them tools that help them feel more beautiful and be present at the same time their self-confidence would definitively improve. Here is where skincare rituals come in.
Moving from routines to rituals
A routine is something we execute on autopilot. A ritual instead, is an activity in which you place your attention or better said, in which you are present.
How does it feel to be present?
Being present feels like allowing yourself to celebrate what is happening right now. Implies to activate our senses and feel the experience instead of thinking about anything else.
3 Steps to transform a skincare routine into a skincare ritual
Anticipate
The feeling of anticipation is linked to happiness. When we do something that we are looking forward to and that is good for ourselves, dopamine (the happiness hormone) is released in our brain automatically. To create anticipation before teen skincare:
- Prepare everything you need. Help them select the right products for their skin and explain to them the positive impact thee will bring. Are these to avoid acne? are these to bring hydration? don’t underestimate the understanding of your teens about themselves and the instinctive response of their bodies to the preservation of their skin health.
- Breathe. Invite them to take three deep breaths. It will support cells and brain oxygenation and bring relaxation during the ritual
- Intend. Having an intention about any activity is a habit that you definitely want them to adopt. Ask them to intend a positive emotion for the activity. It will not just bring joy to themselves but health to their skin.
Repeat
During this step of the ritual the skincare task is done (cleansing, hydrating, etc), but while performing it, you ask your teen to repeat positive mantras that help them keep their emotions high.
They’ll find it silly at the beginning and probably won’t do this in front of you. But trust me, if they do this once, the feeling will be so good that they will want to do it again. They will not let you find out for sure, there is nothing to lose. Leave them a mantra box in the bathroom, push them to go into the skincare ritual, and let their intuition do the job.
Thank
When the ritual is finished, invite them to close their eyes and think about all the things they are thankful for in their life. It could be as simple as having running water at home or as profound as being able to wake up every day. Gratitude is one of the highest emotions a human can experience.
This is how you turn a skincare routine into a self-care ritual that will rewire a teen’s brain into a positive and self-loving one. Poor mental health in teens is not exclusively derived from the relationship with social media but from a poor connection between young people’s minds with their bodies.
Teaching them how to take care of themselves is a way to teach them how to love themselves.
Ok, we hit the end of this chat about teen self-image and social media. The stakes are high, and as moms, for sure we want to do everything we can to help our tweens and young adults to build positive relationships with themselves. We probably don’t want our teens to obsess over their appearance, that is why turning skincare into a self-care ritual is one way to teach them that taking care of themselves is not selfish but necessary and rewire your teen’s brain into a positive and loving space.
But this work doesn’t start or end in the bathroom–we need to be talking about these issues at home, at school, and online. Let’s all pledge to make sure that our teens feel seen, heard, and loved, especially when it feels like the world is telling them otherwise.
Share this article with other moms of teenagers here:
If you don’t feel like reading the blog, don’t worry! You can watch it as a video instead!
If you are like me, you are probably a mom who is watching how fast kids grow, and who is afraid of how easy is for our tweens and teenagers to forget their worth just to try to fit into a society that weights appearance above values.
The effect of social media on teen self-image is a growing concern for many of us. Tweens and teens today are constantly navigating online, comparing themselves to others, and convincing themselves that perfection really exists. In this blog post, we will discuss the effects social media have on our teenagers, and we will offer some tips on how to use skincare rituals to help your children maintain a positive view of themselves.
It’s no secret that social media has a profound effect on the lives of teenagers. For better or for worse, social media plays a huge role in how teens interact with the world. While there are certainly some benefits to using social media, there are also several negative effects that can be damaging to a teenager’s self-esteem. Let’s take a look at those I consider the most important ones:
Social media addiction
According to CNN, US teens’ are spending more than three hours per day on-screen, and could conclude that those teens entering more times to social media in a day (more than 100 times for example) are 47% more distressed on average than those who entered just a few times a day. Also, for those teens dealing with mental health issues, the excessive social media usage showed to make them more vulnerable (Check out this research here).
The thing is that social media is addictive. Studies show that receiving «likes» on social media platforms produces the same effect in the brain as eating chocolate. The feeling is so pleasant that the desire to keep receiving the positive feedback triggers the need of repeating it once and again which leads to an increased teen social media presence.
Poor body image
Social media platforms present an unrealistic standard of beauty that is unattainable for most of us but especially for young people. When teens compare themselves to these fake ideals, peer pressure increases making them feel inadequate, humiliated, and with a negative body image.
Poor Sleep Quality
The increase in the use of social media by teens is also associated with sleep disturbances. Research suggests (read here) that how our teenagers use social media is directly related to poor sleep quality which is also related to teen mental health and depressive symptoms.
Cyber-bullying
Unfortunately, one of the most negative ways social media affects teenagers is through Cyberbullying. It includes the spread of false rumors, mean comments, and name-calling, among others, and happens 24/ hours a day, seven days a week. The effect of this constant and usually type of bullying has called into question social media safety in young people.
Low self-esteem
Social comparison is one of the main reasons why social media could be responsible for teens’ low self-esteem. When young people compare themselves to others, they are more likely to focus on their own flaws and shortcomings which leads them to feel bad about themselves.
For sure, there are. Social media can be used as a tool to connect with friends and family, share important news and experiences, engage in hobbies and interests, stimulate self-expression, entertainment, and even investigate.
The problem is not in social media itself, but in teen social media use. Too much of anything is never a good thing, and this includes social media.
The first step is acknowledging that social media is part of teenage life and that it can have both positive and negative effects on our children. Many parents think that preventing young people to create social media accounts or limiting their life online is the answer but the truth is that this is not precisely a realistic approach especially, during this period of identity development.
However, there are practices that many teens can put in place to reduce the negative influence high screen time has both on their brains and their emotions, and provide emotional support and improved self-image.
Practices to regulate online world derived emotions
Some things you can do as a parent to preserve your teenager’s mental health and reduce the effects of social media despite being active on any social media platform include:
Physical activity
When we move our body produces endorphins which are responsible for making us feel good. So, encouraging your teen to do some physical activity every day, can not just keep them from spending time online but also, can bring to their brain a similar satisfaction to that experienced when navigating social media.
You don’t need to set up a complex game to exercise. Time spent in daily life activities like walking, observing nature, and having fun while moving is an excellent alternative that will help you keep your teen’s mental health in place.
Breathing
When we feel overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed (which are all symptoms of excessive social media use) our breathing becomes shorter and faster. This type of shallow breathing prevents oxygen from getting to our brain which keeps promoting anxiety. Taking deep breaths regularly helps young people to oxygen better their brain, relieving negative emotions and promoting their overall well-being.
Mind-Body connection
Young minds are usually distracted by a million things at the same time. Social media use is accompanied by two or three tasks at the same time. A good example could be a teen who is scrolling social media while watching a tv show and listening to music. Sounds familiar?
Being aware of everything around is equivalent to not being aware of their inner selves, which is a sure path to teen depression. Promoting a mind-body connection helps them to be present in the here and now, which is a fundamental step to preserving their mental health.
Follow Us on Instagram to Get Some Free Gifts!
How skincare rituals can promote the mind-body connection?
We have now seen how social media use and higher screen time spent online are directly related to teens’ lower self-esteem and mental health problems. If we would like to summarize why this happens I would say that it is because the teen’s inner power is constantly given to an external entity like social media for example.
If we approach teenagers to convince them of how important is to start a mindfulness practice they would probably laugh in our face. However, if we give them tools that help them feel more beautiful and be present at the same time their self-confidence would definitively improve. Here is where skincare rituals come in.
Moving from routines to rituals
A routine is something we execute on autopilot. A ritual instead, is an activity in which you place your attention or better said, in which you are present.
How does it feel to be present?
Being present feels like allowing yourself to celebrate what is happening right now. Implies to activate our senses and feel the experience instead of thinking about anything else.
3 Steps to transform a skincare routine into a skincare ritual
Anticipate
The feeling of anticipation is linked to happiness. When we do something that we are looking forward to and that is good for ourselves, dopamine (the happiness hormone) is released in our brain automatically. To create anticipation before teen skincare:
- Prepare everything you need. Help them select the right products for their skin and explain to them the positive impact thee will bring. Are these to avoid acne? are these to bring hydration? don’t underestimate the understanding of your teens about themselves and the instinctive response of their bodies to the preservation of their skin health.
- Breathe. Invite them to take three deep breaths. It will support cells and brain oxygenation and bring relaxation during the ritual
- Intend. Having an intention about any activity is a habit that you definitely want them to adopt. Ask them to intend a positive emotion for the activity. It will not just bring joy to themselves but health to their skin.
Repeat
During this step of the ritual the skincare task is done (cleansing, hydrating, etc), but while performing it, you ask your teen to repeat positive mantras that help them keep their emotions high.
They’ll find it silly at the beginning and probably won’t do this in front of you. But trust me, if they do this once, the feeling will be so good that they will want to do it again. They will not let you find out for sure, there is nothing to lose. Leave them a mantra box in the bathroom, push them to go into the skincare ritual, and let their intuition do the job.
Thank
When the ritual is finished, invite them to close their eyes and think about all the things they are thankful for in their life. It could be as simple as having running water at home or as profound as being able to wake up every day. Gratitude is one of the highest emotions a human can experience.
This is how you turn a skincare routine into a self-care ritual that will rewire a teen’s brain into a positive and self-loving one. Poor mental health in teens is not exclusively derived from the relationship with social media but from a poor connection between young people’s minds with their bodies.
Teaching them how to take care of themselves is a way to teach them how to love themselves.
Ok, we hit the end of this chat about teen self-image and social media. The stakes are high, and as moms, for sure we want to do everything we can to help our tweens and young adults to build positive relationships with themselves. We probably don’t want our teens to obsess over their appearance, that is why turning skincare into a self-care ritual is one way to teach them that taking care of themselves is not selfish but necessary and rewire your teen’s brain into a positive and loving space.
But this work doesn’t start or end in the bathroom–we need to be talking about these issues at home, at school, and online. Let’s all pledge to make sure that our teens feel seen, heard, and loved, especially when it feels like the world is telling them otherwise.
Share this article with other moms of teenagers here:
