Teenagers ask online: Am I beautiful or ugly?

22 Feb Teenagers ask online: Am I beautiful or ugly?

This morning, Good Morning America ran a story on teens posting images of themselves on the internet and asking people to rate their attractiveness. As you can imagine, the results were sometimes harsh, sometimes sexually explicit and sometimes overly complementary. Most people ask, “Why on earth would someone make themselves so vulnerable?” It’s a great question and one that finds a answer in the tumultuous state of being a teenager.
The teenage years mark a point in our lives when we start looking to define ourselves from the outside in. This is why teenagers hang out in “packs” and seek to conform to their peers’ and the medias’ notions of beauty and popularity. Its also a time when hormones rage and emotions fluctuate wildly.
All of this, of course, adds up to challenges for parents and distress for teenagers. It’s, therefore, important that parents know what’s happening in their teenagers’ life and keep channels of communications with them open. Make sure you talk to your teenager about these latest trends and use them as “teachable moments”. In so doing you will provide your teenage with the love and support they need to navigate the difficult stage of their being.
You can read more about this disturbing Internet trend at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2104057/Am-I-ugly-YouTube-video-Worrying-new-trend-sees-tweens-asking-public-looks.html?ito=feeds-newsxml