I recently talked about how to raise an emotionally healthy son. While it is difficult today, it is not impossible. The same is true for girls. You can raise an emotionally healthy daughter, you just have to understand what she needs and what she’s up against.
I recently talked about how to raise an emotionally healthy son. While it is difficult today, it is not impossible. The same is true for girls. You can raise an emotionally healthy daughter, you just have to understand what she needs and what she’s up against.
For teen girls today, the greatest obstacle to emotional health is social media.
We’ve talked about this before, but last month, a study was released in the U.K. that directly linked depression among teen girls and social media use. It also revealed how social media affects girls differently than boys:
- Two-fifths of girls use social media for three hours a day or more, while only one-fifth of boys do.
- For teens who use social media more than five hours a day, there was a 50 percent increase in depressive symptoms among girls, compared to 35 percent among boys.
- Forty percent of girls, compared to 25 percent of boys, have been harassed online or cyberbullied.
- Girls, more than ever, are in need of emotional support from their parents because they are not getting it where they are spending most of their time: online.
For teen girls today, the greatest obstacle to emotional health is social media.
How to Support Your Daughter Emotionally
The reason social media is taking a harder toll on girls than it is boys could be the way they are socialized. Rachel Simmons, author of Enough As She Is, said in an interview:
Girls are socialized at a very young age to rely heavily on feedback from others. They grow up paying more and more attention to what other people think of them and whether they are measuring up to those external expectations.
Social media makes this even more challenging since it allows girls to measure themselves against every influencer, celebrity and popular friend they see online. A great deal of self-esteem and inner strength is required for a young girl to be on social media and not feel like she is less than those around her. This is where you, her parent, can have a huge influence.
Because social media is only focused on the appearance or how things seem, focus on your daughter’s character. Compliment her, but in the right way. If your compliments consistently focus on her appearance or her performance, you will be reinforcing what she sees on Instagram and Snapchat every day. Instead, be a different voice for your daughter. Make an effort to pick out one or two character qualities you see in her—her compassion, her perseverance—and applaud her for those.
Girls, more than ever, are in need of emotional support from their parents because they are not getting it where they are spending most of their time: online.