Local teen’s campaign ‘You are greater than your likes’
Jun 6, 2013, 5:42 PM | Updated: Jun 7, 2013, 11:33 am
There are very few of us who look in the mirror without seeing flaws.
“Sometimes I feel like everything would be better if my hair was longer, if I were taller, if I was skinnier, if my thighs were smaller, if my teeth were whiter,” Amanda says, “Then everything would be better.
Amanda, a 16-year-old from Meadowdale High School, has spent a year creating online projects that resonate with a young audience.
While people of all ages struggle with body image issues, the current generation is somewhat unique because so many of their pictures are online and shared.
“When I see pictures of myself online, I think about how everyone can share them,” Amanda says in her video. “I think about how my self-confidence and self worth revolves around how many ‘likes’ or ‘favorites’ or re-blogs I get.”
Referring, of course, to interactions through the social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
“I think about how happy I look and how untrue that is,” she also admits. “I think about how alone I feel.”
About 50 percent of girls ages three to six are already concerned about their weight, according to the research she presents.
Adolescent girls are more afraid of gaining weight than getting cancer, losing their parents or nuclear war.
There is no universal solution to help girls who have body image problems but Amanda offers a simple tag line reminding her peers there is more to them than what’s online.
“You are greater than your likes.”
Amanda and about 100 other students from 10 area schools will share their original digital media projects Sunday June 9 at the Experience Music Project for the upcoming Adobe Youth Voices event.
By LINDA THOMAS