“I absolutely hate my hips and thighs.  There are so many outfits that I can’t pull off because it makes me look fat and I hate it.  Also, I’m insecure about my nose.  If you look at my nose, it’s angled down from my face and it’s pretty big, so I hate it.  I feel confident about my eyes because they’re different.  Sometimes I’m confident about my hair and sometimes I’m really insecure about it.  I’m also insecure about my feet.  When they get cold they turn purple and if they get hot they turn red,” said an anonymous student at TRHS when asked what she loved and hated about herself.

Self-love is scarce among the youth of today’s society, but it is one of the most important things teenagers need in order to be happy.  Without it, they are self-conscience about what they wear, do, and say.  Their self-awareness begins to control their life.  Now, it’s almost impossible for someone to love everything about themselves, but it is possible for them to not care what others think of their insecurities.

Most insecurity develops because of what other people say and do.  Whether it’s direct, like a mean comment on a Facebook post, or indirect, like a quote in a magazine saying that 26 ½ inches is the perfect waist size.  “I get called fat practically every other day.  The days that no one seems to care, they care about my hairline.  I literally stare at the mirror at night in disgust because of how others see me,” said another anonymous student.   He was asked if he thought he would notice these things if nobody pointed it out.  “I would like to say no because I don’t point it out in others, but I’ve been told this from the very beginning of school.  I can’t say that I wouldn’t because the fact that I do is part of who I am now,” he said. As for the indirect attack on the youth, it’s not even on purpose.

Social media has a huge influence on teenagers and how they view themselves, with celebrities being one of their biggest role models.  When a teenager has a role model, they try to be like them as physically and mentally as possible, though the physical part is hardest for teenagers to achieve.  This is because so many celebrities’ bodies revolve around liposuction, makeup, and Botox along with other things to accomplish what society perceives as the perfect body.  Teenagers think they’re ugly, overweight, have small lips, pig noses, and boring features because their favorite singer or actor doesn’t have any of those things.  This causes them to hate and be ashamed of whom they are.  But their favorite celebrity wouldn’t look the way they do without the help of surgery and makeup artists, would they? Teenagers in today’s society need to be proud of their big hips, crazy hair, big noses, hairy legs, and everything that society says isn’t beautiful.  Because if they are proud of who they are, they won’t care about what they wear or do.  They’ll be a lot more comfortable not caring what others say about their bodies.  With self-love, the girl who commented on your skinny arms and the guy who said your nose wasn’t straight won’t mean anything.  You don’t have to love everything about yourself, but there isn’t much you can change, so you might as well love it and flaunt it.