 Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay Social media accounts should be allowed when you believe that your teenage girls are responsible enough to handle them. This does not mean an ability to respond to "likes" and posting photos, but having a solid understanding about the risks associated with having social media accounts. You may be asking yourself these questions:
Has Social Media Made The Mental Health Of Teenage Girls Worse? Yes. I firmly believe that the answer is yes. This is the reason that we stress active lifestyles in my household, such as playing sports or visiting friends. Children need to get together and play games in-person and not just video games in chat rooms or virtual-meetings. They need to have meaningful social relationships with same-age peers because they are having a hard time with face-to-face conversations. Teenage girls can be lonely and need physical contact, as we had when we were teenagers, when there were no social media sites. In-person social communication has become awkward, and many people hide behind video screens while bullying others. Sometimes, the victim is your teenage daughter although she may not tell you about it. Removing social media or taking breaks from it can increase your teenage daughter's self-esteem. 5 Ways Removing Social Media Increases Self-Esteem in Teenage Girls 1. Cyberbullying If you are not monitoring your teenage daughter's cell phone, then there lies the problem. A significant amount of physical aggression and psychological attacks start on social media sites. Removing social media or not allowing your teenage daughter to use it decreasing these negative, harmful, and mean messaging platforms for your teenage daughter. 2) Social Comparison Comparing themselves to the images of other teen girls can cause low self-esteem. Beauty standards and body images on social media contribute dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Unrealistic expectations can create negative images for teenage girls about their own bodies and concept of beauty. Self-depreciation arises along with a decrease in confidence and body acceptance. 3) Information Overload Early exposure to inappropriate information influences the attitudes of teenage girls. Keep your teenage daughters protected for as long as you can. You shape their attitudes and behaviors 1st before giving them access to social media accounts. 4) Mental Health Teenage girls have enough changes happening to them and they do not need social media to contribute to that confusion. Feel comfortable telling them no to requests for social media accounts until they are ready. Give them alternatives for communicating with friends and activities and sports to keep them preoccupied. The time will come when you will not be able to control their decision to have social media pages and until that time arrives, enjoy the typical "moody" moments from teenage girls. You do not need any help from social media to increase that emotional state of mind. 5) Risk Factors Removing social media allows for open and ongoing conversations with your teenage daughters about potential risks from having those accounts. It also strengthens their knowledge of social media safety online. Encourage and promote positive self-talk and body positivity which can boost a teenage girl's mental health.  Image by lisa runnels from Pixabay
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