Image and identity construction through social media
Like we have seen before, puberty and the first years into early adulthood can be challenging. Besides dealing with all the overwhelming changes their bodies, minds and brain are going through, youngsters are trying to find out who they are and what is their place in the world. Difficult as it already might be, the use and importance young people give to social media can make it even harder and have a deep impact on their identity construction and sense of self. It is crucial they learn how to separate their virtual self from their real self and that they are aware that social media content does not reflect reality as it is. It is also important they know how they want to present themselves online, what identity to they want to portray and bear in mind they are exposing themselves to the world.
Watch the following videos:
Puberty and Finding Out Who You Are, by AMAZE Org
Social Media and Self-Image, by AMAZE Org
For more information on this topic, read the article below:
GÜNDÜZ, Uğur. The Effect of Social Media on Identity Construction. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, [S.l.], v. 8, n. 5, p. 85, sep. 2017. ISSN 2039-2117. Available at: <https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/10062/9694>
Teaching emotions and respect for the body
Here you can find some activities suggestions to approach the topic with your students. Remember, this can be a delicate topic. Here are some tips:
Be mindful of the words you choose to use;- Try to be understanding and non-judgemental;
- If you notice some discomfort among any of the students, consider doing a different activity;
- Images, videos, songs, and Google (in general) can be helpful tools for the activities.
Be mindful of the words you choose to use;
Title: Identifying emotions
Learning objectives: by the end of the activity, students will be more aware of different ways to express emotions through facial expressions.
Tasks: select some photos/pictures online of people expressing different emotions and ask students to identify the emotions by analysing the facial expressions. Write some emotions on papers and put them in a bag. Then, ask one student to take a paper and role play in order to express that emotion and ask the class to identify the emotion the student is expressing. Have other students taking more papers and role-playing different emotions.
Title: Talk good in my back
Learning objectives: motivate students to give compliments more often
Tasks: ask students to stand up and form a circle turning their backs to each other, this way they will be facing the back of the colleague in front of them. Give each one of them a piece of paper and a pen and ask them to write 3 compliments about the colleague in front of them. The compliment can be about their personality, clothes, preferences and likes, etc. Finally, ask them to face the centre of the circle so that everyone is facing each other and invite them to read the compliments out loud.
Title: Are you my friend?
Learning objectives: motivate students to accept each other for who they are and build a positive environment in the classroom
Tasks: divide students into small groups and instruct them to ask each other questions about hobbies, likes and preferences. Try to form unusual groups by pairing up students who are not usually together or do not interact as much. To help them, you can provide them with some categories (e.g., food, sports, music, cinema, school, jobs, etc.). Give them about 10-15 minutes to chat with each other. In the end, ask them to share what things they found out they have in common during the activity.
Title: Body language
Learning objectives: help students be more aware of their emotions and those of others and teach them new strategies to regulate their emotions
Tasks: sit down in a relaxed and casual-looking way and ask the students to notice your posture, ask them how they think you are feeling. What message are you transmitting? Then, ask them to notice their own posture and what can they tell about their emotions from it. Afterwards, have them watch the following video: Your body language may shape who you are, by Amy Cuddy. Finally, talk to the students about the video and ask them to share their thoughts about body language, how it is related to feelings, emotions and mental states, and how it can be used as a tool for emotional regulation.
Title: Switches
Learning objectives: help students become more aware of their emotions and teach them a strategy to self-regulate them
Tasks: show students the poster of a well-known comedy movie they are probably familiar with and ask them how they feel about it, and what emotions they link to the movie. Now show them the poster of a movie that might make them feel sad or nostalgic and ask them the same question, calling their attention to how their emotions might change according to the movie and/or memories linked to it. Then, question students if there is any specific activity they like to do when they are feeling sad or anxious. Afterwards, have them think about 5 things that usually make them feel good, happy, and relaxed and ask them to write those things down on a list. Explain that the elements of this list will be their switches. Whenever they are feeling down, anxious or stressed, they can think or do one of the things on the list to try and help them feel better. It can either be an object, a person, a song, a movie, food, activity or other. Finally, motivate the students to share at least one of the things they listed with their classmates.
Title: What can your body do?
Learning objectives: help students be grateful for their bodies and care for them
Tasks: start by asking students if they practice any kind of sports. Then, have the students who answer positively name some of the things they must be able to do (e.g., run fast, strength, be agile, be flexible, have fast reflexes, breathe, etc.). Continue by asking them how they got to school that day: Did they walk? Did they take the bus? How did they get to the classroom? Continue asking questions in a way that points out simple things their bodies are capable of doing so they become aware of their bodies capabilities. Suggest a simple activity for homework: for a week, they must stand in front of a mirror, smile at themselves for 2 minutes and notice what they like about their body. Highlight they can start off with simple things like: I like my legs because they take me to places, for example.