Social media is a cause, not a correlate, of mental illness in teen girls

Re:Social media is a cause, not a correlate, of mental illne... by antod on Wednesday February 22, 2023 @03:28PM (#34902144)

As a parent of a 13yr old girl, we've tried with mixed success during her preteens to find her interests/activities she liked where she could get good at something and have a source of self esteem that came from somewhere outside her peer group interactions.

But yeah, the interest dies away a bit by 13 and we're not fully sure it worked. But we can see that her peers that didn't have earlier hobbies/skills had even lower self esteem. Shrug

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Social media is a cause, not a correlate, of mental illne... by itronitron on Wednesday February 22, 2023 @03:34PM (#34902238)

You might want to look into sewing/textiles/fashion as a creative and intellectual activity. It's a nice combination of history, creativity, technical work, and learning from/with adults.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Social media is a cause, not a correlate, of mental illne... by nativeit on Wednesday February 22, 2023 @06:17PM (#34904468)

You might want to look into electronics/woodworking/rock climbing/astrophotography/playing an instrument/ice sculpture/welding/open-source research and investigation/archery/scuba diving/optics and lasers—insert any relevant option here that features history, creativity, technical skills, and mentorships—as a creative and intellectual activity. It's a nice combination of history, creativity, technical work, and learning from/with adults. Also, it wouldn’t be so immediately on-the-nose misogynistic as something like “sewing and fashion” to suggest for someone whose only known traits are that she’s a thirteen-year old girl.

[ Parent | on HN ]