As we headed into winter break, I noticed more and more 7th grade girls were coming into my office with social emotional issues. How does a white male adult help 13 year-old girls understand just how much they have in common with each other and realize they are not going through this alone?
On January 14 I started a girls group during lunch and advisory period. The first day I simply took notes after I asked them to tell me what it is like to be a 7th grader today. These girls really shared about issues they all deal with daily. From social media’s impact on their self esteem, body image, communication issues with peers, friends and family. Although it may sound like the same issues we dealt with when we were their age, it is at a new a all time high level. Imagine television commercials, magazine adds and movie images following you where ever you went. That is a tiny glimpse into the imapct social media and cell phones have on our kids today.
Today we met for the second time. I showed them a video on social depression. The young woman in the video isolates herself intentionally but lives her life through social media, all for the number of likes she may or may not receive. We followed with a good conversation on setting healthy social media boundaries and expectations. Then I showed them a short video of 6 to 18 year-old girls talking about body image issues. Our girls were really open, honest and transparent with each other on this topic. We are only two weeks in, the girls want to continue meeting. The topics and the quality of our conversations warrants continuing.
My hope is these girls realize just how connected they all are and find more grace and empathy with each other and themselves.
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