Instilling Healthier Standards of Beauty

Written by: Jerlyn Malasig

The pursuit of societal beauty standards has dominated the lives of many and affects the most impressionable - children. Through various forms of media such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, society has shown that outside appearance is important and should take center stage. However, these messages can have harmful effects on a young girl's development. Childhood is a vulnerable period in life and caregivers and society as a whole should ensure that children be protected from such damaging social norms that are communicated through television, internet, and magazines. Such messages should be managed as well as changed to include healthier standards of beauty that promote self-acceptance, integrity, and good character.

It is said that "children are sponges": they are constantly absorbing all the information they receive from their surroundings. These everyday messages are shaping the way they see the world and most importantly, the way they see themselves. Research done by Danielle Kassow (2002) showed the relationship between psychological developmental patterns and amount of television exposure amongst a sample of girls in grades one, three, and five. The results reported that as exposure to television increased, so did her preference to thinness as well as her overall dissatisfaction of her body image.

Even more alarming is the fact that suicide is the leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 18. This tells us that we need to take more active measures to protect the youth. We can begin by engaging in the following:

1. Stay involved in your children's media use and create an open and non-judgmental space for any questions that may come up.
   

2. Reduce electronics use by scheduling time to enjoy family activities.
   

3. Acknowledge your children when they demonstrate an act of service or kindness.
   

4. Model self-acceptance and self-love.
   

5. Help children honor their uniqueness by celebrating the characteristics and qualities that make them special and beautiful.
   

6. Seek assistance from a counselor who can help your child identify the beauty that they already possess.

By educating young girls on what true beauty consists of, this will provide them with a more fruitful path to becoming mentally strong and healthy individuals. The late Maya Angelou once said, "It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength".

Carroll, L (2019). Rise in Suicide rates in U.S. youth, especially girls. Reuters.

Cassella, C. (2019). Child suicide attempts are skyrocketing in the U.S., and nobody knows why. Science Alert.

Kassow, D. (2002). Developmental patterns of young girl's body image and their relationships to television viewing. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.