As a mother of a little girl, I felt like this message is so powerful. Girl Power. But walking the walk is much harder. We have yet to come up with a game plan for social media, as it will look very different in the not so distant future. However the lessons we can learn now will only help us in the future.
Powerful girls can process social media distractions. Limit your daughter’s exposure to the media and popular culture when she is young.“This will give her more time to develop her own ideas, creativity, and imagination from her direct first-hand experience. As she grows, media messages will start to get in, so having rules and routines from the start can help your daughter control her own experiences as she gets older,” says Diane Levin, Ph.D, author of So Sexy So Soon.Help her process the messages in the media. “Help her avoid the narrow focus on appearance and consumerism that often dominates the media. By helping your daughter process the messages she sees on the screen and develop her own ideas about them, you can prepare her to better resist the media’s pervasive stereotypes,” says Levin.
Help her notice the bigger picture — for example, how looking like her latest teen idol can be fun but also connects her with a lot of other stuff she might not have noticed or thought about. Wonder aloud about more general patterns you see, like how all those little purses hanging from everything might make it seem that all girls, even three-year-olds, are into shopping.
We had a submission of lovely photos of a Senior Portrait session and were excited to hear from her as part of our girl power series. While we can't avoid social media, it also can create a broader sense of community & empathy, which we certainly need more of! As parents it's important to look at the positive influences as well as the potential consequences of technology.
Let's meet Georgia.
Georgia, tell us about your future plans as you start this very important year!
My future plans consist of many things, including but not limited to traveling, expanding my mind, and drinking good coffee. In August, I am starting college at Florida State University as an Anthropology major. Afterwards, I am going to work in museums and eventually become a museum curator. Maybe somewhere down the line I’ll meet the love of my life and we’ll get married (I’m a hopeless romantic so fingers crossed), but I hope they will want to travel as much as I do. I never want to stop learning and growing. Meeting new people, experiencing other cultures, and broadening my world view are top priority for me. Museums are voices for past peoples and past cultures; I want to understand them as much as I want to understand the present world—and see it with my own eyes. I hope to spread kindness, love, and acceptance to everyone I encounter, no matter who they are. I plan on growing old with my spouse having been so kind that I made someone else find faith in humanity again. Most people think there’s not much they can do, but they can always be kind, and I believe that changes the world.
Thank you Georgia- I'm excited for you to take on the world and make it better place!
Photo: Haliegh Nicole Photography
Venue: Dickson Azalea Park
Orlando Florida