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