How do you help teens with body confidence & social media? Share your tips for chance to win £300 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As you may know the Dove Self-Esteem Project works to try and help "girls across the world overcome beauty related pressures, raise their self-esteem and in doing so, realise their full potential". They have lots of tips and advice around talking to teens about body confidence, especially in regards to social media. Now they want to hear your tips on talking to yours!

The team at the Dove Self-Esteem Project say that "1 in 2 girls say they are using social networks ‘all the time’, across an average of 4 different networks and taking 12 minutes at a time to prepare a selfie. The number of girls who say social networks make them feel worse about their appearance doubles between the age of 13yrs to 18yrs - 30% agree at 13yrs vs 60% at 18yrs".

The Dove Self-Esteem Project is campaigning to help young people find beauty confidence in themselves and realise the only like that counts is their own. Get involved using #NoLikesNeeded.

So, please share on this thread:

~ Your top tips for encouraging your teen, friend, relation or student to not rely on social media to boost their self-esteem
~ Any concerns you have about your teen's self-esteem - do you feel they are becoming dependent on social media to boost body confidence?
~ Any experiences of this issue
~ What does your teen teach you about social media and body confidence? Do you lead by example?
~ If your child is younger than a teen now, what advice do you think you would give about these issues when your child is older?

Add your comment to the thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

Insight T&Cs apply

PS: we also asked 3 of our bloggers to blog about this topic:
You can read their posts here
#NoLikesNeeded

www.amothersramblings.com/2015/10/self-esteem-and-role-of-you-over-social.html
www.mummybarrow.com/no-likes-needed/
www.emmaand3.com/no-likes-needed-for-raising-confident-girls/

I would steer my daughter away from the negative influences from social media as much as possible, by limiting time spent on those websites. I would be careful as to what films I'd allow her to watch as well, as they are a big influence. I think it's important to have frequent conversations to pick up on any incorrect messages that may have been absorbed.

Well i encourage them to be self aware but also not to be naive. Nobody is perfect

My daughter (13) is very self confident. However she is suddenly very careful with he food and concious of how she looks. At the level she's at her behaviours are the same as mine when I was young .... only a little earlier. I just hope it doesn't accelerate or get more pronounced.
We all tell her she's beautiful and too thin so there is no no need but I didn't think this when I was young either. All we can do is reinforce that she is all set with the important qualities in life and hope she gets though teens unscathed.

When my younger brother was 16, he went through a period of self-loathing about his body, and practically starved himself. He would see the male models on fashion shows and magazines and try to emulate the "heroin chic" look. I tried to show him how unrealistic these images were, and that a lot of the photos were re-touched on the computer, and the models were probably not that thin, and that he was damaging his body. We encouraged him to eat healthily, and to exercise in moderation, and to not take on board so much the images he saw. His confidence soared, and he recovered and is now training to be a fitness instructor. :)

When my younger brother was 16, he went through a period of self-loathing about his body, and practically starved himself. He would see the male models on fashion shows and magazines and try to emulate the "heroin chic" look. I tried to show him how unrealistic these images were, and that a lot of the photos were re-touched on the computer, and the models were probably not that thin, and that he was damaging his body. We encouraged him to eat healthily, and to exercise in moderation, and to not take on board so much the images he saw. His confidence soared, and he recovered and is now training to be a fitness instructor. :)

As a teen, I did quite a bit of work volunteering at an orphanage. I think I would encourage my teen to get out there and be part of the bigger picture and realise that theres a lot more to life than what other people see and think about you.

I always try to praise my kids when they try their best. Luckily my kids are very athletic so they don't really have any body issues. My teenage daughter did go through a stage of thinking she was fat and only constant reassurance made her feel better about herself.

I think it helps to show kids positive role models, in all areas of the media. There are plenty if you look around.

Social media and media in general puts pressure on girls but especially young girls. Girls can also be cruel on social media.

I let my daughters know how beautiful they are and how much they are loved on a regular basis.

I have 2 teen boys and a 12.5 year old girl and I have noticed a big difference between my boys and my eldest daughter. My boys could take or leave social media and they only post infrequestly on FB, but my daughter spends way too long on Instagram. She doesn't have her own phone, but she is constantly taking mine or her elder brother's so that she can check in and see what has been posted and what her friends are saying. I personally think she takes it too seriously. She also spends a very long time looking at online beauty and make up videos. I think she is overly interested in appearance and unlike the boys she is heavily influenced by her friends opinions on the brands you "have to have" or you won't fit in with the peer group. I find it very worrying that her peer group will judge someone if they don't have Nike trainers for P.E. classes or are seen wearing a different brand outside school. I am constantly telling her and the boys that what is on the inside of someone is the most important, that people need to be beautiful on the inside, the outside is not as important. I also stress to them that the media tends to distort the truth and alter pictures so that nothing is quite what it seems. I think it's very important that girls particularly are brought up to feel comfortable in the skin that they are in and don't worry too much about the projections of the media or peer pressure.

I praise and encourage my son for being involved with sports and other activities and make note that his figure is toned as a young man should be. I also help him to fight the teens face spots so that it not affect his confidence.

Only have real friends as friends on social media and tighten up privacy settings

Don't focus on complimenting or commenting on appearance, but other attributes

Encourage them to be involved in real world activities & rely less on social media. Meeting lots of people, seeing different perspectives, learning new skills & achieving goals should help inspire them and increase their self esteem.

I haven't read the rest of the thread but my 12 year old DD found this and showed it to me. I thought it was brilliant! It has prompted a lot of discussions about unrealistic media images and not believing what you see. Hopefully it will help to shield her from the insidious media pressure to have 'the perfect body'.

There are a few messages I think are important...be yourself...if someone doesn't like you for who you are they are not worth bothering with...people are special for all different reasons, things they've achieved, personality, goals etc...we are all different...that sort of thing. It's hard though sometime due to peer pressure.

Thanks for all the tips and comments: am pleased to say strawberrisc wins the £300 voucher.