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After months of online classes and more time than ever before spent on social media, it?s no surprise that tweens and teens are struggling with low self-esteem right now. While social media apps can be fun and creative, they can sometimes promote unrealistic beauty standards, with glossy filters and edited photos. In fact, a 2021 Dove Detoxify Survey found that 67 percent of Canadian girls try to change or hide at least one body part or feature before posting a photo of themselves. And by age 13, 80 percent of girls have already applied a filter or used a retouching app to change the way they look in their photos. Add cyberbullying (which 15 percent of teens have experienced) to the mix, and screentime can start to really mess with kids? body image. Here?s the good news: Scientists now believe that it?s not how much time young people spend on social media but how they use it that will either positively or negatively influence them. That?s why the Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP) is on a mission to improve youth self-esteem and body confidence. DSEP is the world?s largest provider of body confidence education of its kind, having helped 3.5 million Canadian children through self-esteem and body confidence educational programs with free resources and tools.
Dove’s own research shows that adults are important body confidence role models for the young people in their lives. It?s crucial for the grownups in children?s lives to talk to them about social med...