
We have all done it… used the latest filters to “perfect” or fix our photos. It seems innocent enough. A quick swipe and our faces are flawlessly “fixed”, and for many of us, the filters also remove a few years in the process. The reality is that our young children, and teens, are watching. Additionally, even at a young age, we “pose” them to achieve the “perfect” angle. Or the perfect shot. Sometimes it may take 50 pictures to get “the one”. I have been guilty of this in the past. However, it begs the question: What are we TEACHING our children?
Parents are influencers. We are influencers of our children. What are we teaching them by asking them to pose 25 times for the right shot? Are we teaching them they cannot be themselves? That they must always be presented perfectly? When they get their own social media, this may lead to them feeling they can only share the perfectly angled selfie every time.
The reality is, who doesn’t love a good selfie? Who doesn’t love a nice picture that we feel proud of. Even so, it feels like the era of selfies and picture sharing has exploded. In 2019, Android reported that its users take 93 MILLION selfies a DAY. This does not include iPhone data. Those numbers combined are staggering.
About a third of parents with children ages 7-9 reported that their kids use social media apps via phones or tablets, according to the 2021 C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll in Health. About half the parents with children ages 10-12 reported the same, and the numbers increase as the child’s age increases. This means our kids, at young ages, have easy access to social media and devices where they can post selfies.
Kids love to imitate what they see. If they are being taught from a young age to pose for the perfect picture, or if they grow up seeing this exhibited through parent’s behavior, they begin to imitate that behavior. While we want this to be harmless, it actually can lead to some confusion among our youth. They can begin to wonder if the “real” version of themselves is good enough. They wonder if they should only post the “filtered” or “perfectly posed” version of themselves. We see this among our daughters especially. Research is constantly pointing us in the direction of increasing body image issues among young girls, and at an alarming rate. Constant filtered or forced posing creates a situation where girls can no longer see the “real” version of themselves as being enough.