Respond to discussion 610 1 and 2

Gabrielle Winton 

Girls in Danger

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Girls in Danger

            Young ladies today are faced with many challenges and upheaval in their day-to-day lives. From their hormones going haywire, to their changing bodies, and shifting social groups and norms, each girl faces a changing landscape almost daily as she goes through adolescence.  Through it all, however, the most threatening matter for young ladies to overcome is the issue of social media and the effects of it on their self-esteem.

            As Dr. Dobson (2010) remarks that the teenage years are fraught with changing seasons in a girl’s body every month. On some days they absolutely love themselves and their hair and their outfit.  On other days, nothing is right or good.  Many girls crave validation through all the moods they experience and have only to go as far as the end of their arm onto a phone to find it.  Girls long to be connected (Dobson, 2010) and can find an outlet for that through social media. They seek approval through “likes” and “favorites” of people they may have never met, and may also begin to rely on that validation to the point of addiction (Kircaburum, Kokkinos, Demetrovics, Kiraly ,Griffiths, & Colak, 2018). Girls, more so than boys, look toward social media for the attention they crave, and the support they so desperately need.  When they do not find it- either from absence of responses or by negative ones- they can become depressed and experience greater anxiety (Kircaburum et al., 2018), all without actually making the connections they seek, and often resulting in turning away from the people who can help.

            Mothers and fathers play a tremendous role in helping a child to navigate these changing seasons and come through them unscathed.  As Dr. Dobson (2010) points out, this time is when parents need to be more closely attached to their children, even if they feel they are being pushed away. A girl may want to have freedom and unfettered access to all the apps on a phone with no control or accountability.  It is the parents’ job to remain connected.  A mother should be emotionally available to her daughter, making sure to tell her louder than anyone one social media that the girl is loved and accepted.  Fathers need to be set a high bar for anyone to meet in how they treat their daughters, so these young ladies do not go seeking attention from unhealthy places.  Mothers also will need to work hard at remaining calm in the face of the crazy, and fathers should hold tough to being the stabilizing force the family may need during this time (Dobson, 2010).

 

O’Conner, as quoted by Kircaburum, Kokkinos, Demetrovics, Kiraly,  Griffiths, & Colak, (2018) found that having a strong family unit helps to modulate online behavior. It indicates that when a young lady has the unconditional love and support she needs at home, she will not need to go seeking those things in a dangerous online world.

References

Dobson, J. (2010). Bringing up girls: Practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of women. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House.

Kircaburum, K., Kokkinos, C.M., Demetrovics, Z., Király, O., Griffiths, M.D., Çolak, T.S., (2018). Problematic online behaviors among adolescents and emerging adults: associations between cyberbulling perpetration, problematic social media use, and psychosocial factors. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 17, 891-908. doi: 10.1007/s11469-018-9894-8

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