I AM Magazine Issue 22 Oct. 2015 1 | Page 9

o you know what the top wish among teen girls is? You may be shocked to hear it, but the top wish among all teen girls is for their parents to communicate better with them. now on the Internet and social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram, they are definitely maturing at a much faster rate. With the Internet comes an awareness of sexuality that they are not mature enough to cope Kirsty O’Brien, Coach and founder with. Pornography is so much of ‘Her Invisible Crown’, knows more easily found and viewed this first hand and it was a key today than 15 years ago and reason why she started the Teen most of their ‘celeb idols’ are hyEmpowerment Workshops. per-sexualised. Our teen girls are The idea for the workshops feeling a pressure to imitate their evolved from heartfelt discusidols and the conflicting messions Kirsty had with her 14 year sages their Instagram posts old daughter. “They [teens] are send. With selfies and Instagram entering this new stage where comes an added emphasis on they are starting to make more how a girl looks, from her hair to and more decisions on their own, her eyebrows, to her thigh gap. and we [parents] are not conAll unrealistic, as most of their stantly by their side like we used role models photo-shop their own to be. Plus with mobile phones photos. With mobile phones and and social media, they are even online accounts our teens are more ultra social than ever.”, constantly contactable as well, Kirsty said. providing extra peer pressure.” to really open up communication in a positive way. We cover body image and the world of social media, importantly selfies, texts (tone and context) and sexts, and how things put on the Internet are in fact permanent. We also identify and recognise negative self talk and I show the girls how to make that inner voice their BFF.” Kirsty also explains the connection between confidence and self esteem, “Every decision a teenager makes is directly related to their self confidence. If a girl loves who she is and has confidence in herself, her decisions in life will reflect this. She is less likely to give into peer influence and is more likely to be an active and happy participant in school and socially.” So, how do we fix this? Seems like such a simple question, however when you look at the true scope of information exposed to teens daily, the problem can appear to be out of our hands. If we consider the statement made in the opening of this article – the top wish made by teen girls – could it be as easy as encouraging more open conversations? According to Kirsty, the Keeping this statement in mind, it answer is a very simple ‘yes’, which is why she involves adults