The last science unit we do with our students is Human Growth and Development. They think they will hate it and they always end up loving it. And it keeps the super engaged for those last weeks when they are half way out the door already.
While we do teach body systems, we also spend a lot of time on body image. In looking for good resources this year, I came across a Ted Talk that, while not appropriate for use at school, is a great conversation piece for parents at home. It is titled ‘Why thinking you are ugly is bad for you‘. One thing that struck me was when she talked about young girls putting their photos on Facebook and then asking, “Do you think I am ugly?” Our young people are so desperate for approval that they put themselves out to the entire world. Each one of those little ‘likes’ they receive dictates how much they like themselves. That’s really scary.
But then I thought about blogging. I have just started blogging when I did the March Challenge. I decided to do it because it would push me to write. I do some writing, but clearly not enough. And I have stage fright. I really do not like to share my writing. I thought this would make me reach out of my comfort zone in a good way. Once I started, it felt good. It felt good to sit down and write for an audience, even though I didn’t know who they would be. It felt good to finish a ‘piece’. It felt good to put it out there. And then I learned something new. It felt good to be LIKED!
I am not big on social media. I don’t Facebook, or Instagram, or anything else that requires daily upkeep. I really don’t like Facebook as it feels to me as a place to showboat all that is perfect in your world. It’s unrealistic and candy coated. And it is pretty easy to see what everyone else is doing and then feel pretty small about yourself. I have plenty of that already – I don’t need more.
But then my blogs were getting LIKED! I found myself watching my email closely for the first few hours after I posted. Each new message warmed me in a way I totally didn’t expect. I wanted more! I became a watcher and a waiter – ready for the next hit of being liked. While I liked being liked, I also worried when no one even looked at a post. Was I really liked? And then I caught myself. That isn’t what this writing is about. (But I do love the connection I feel with my cohorts.)
I worry about the kids growing up today. I worry that they will misinterpret so much through social media. It’s not that you guys don’t like me. It’s just that I tend to post last and you have all gone to bed and moved on – like you should! But do those beautiful young souls out there understand that being liked or noticed isn’t a measure of the worth of you? I am so grateful I am not a teen today.
mollykirkblog 
Such an honest and heartfelt post. Many of us can empathize with your first days of blogging and hoping to be liked. Hell, we still wish for it. But I’ve given up trying to figure out which of my posts will be well read and why others are hardly read at all. I have had to learn to detach my emotions from the number of responses. I love hearing from anyone who takes the trouble to respond and I’ve come to think of the Tuesday SOL as more of a writing exercise each week. Your post was a pleasure to read today.
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I have begun doing social media management, and I have to say it can be difficult to not buy into the likes. It gets to me every so often. The writing is the goal—not the likes.
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Lots of what you wrote here could have been written by me, including the end- I am grateful not to be a teen today. As much as I write for me, sometimes an audience is nice.
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You should google Sarah Tuttle-Singer’s article on fake-booking. I think it would appeal to you. (It resonated with me and it has been out for a couple of years on Kveller.com.)
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Thank you. I will hunt that down.
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This is my first visit here, and I do plan to go back and read more of your writing. You hit so many important points here. I teach middle school and the whole “like” scene is so important for them, and I really don’t understand it. I know most of it are the times in which we live, but sometimes I just want to tell them to STOP! I also get what you are saying from the writing standpoint. We do feel better knowing that someone has read our words, although we tell ourselves, we write just for the writing. It is through writing where we make the connections and those in turn help us to feel a little less alone. Wonderful thoughts here today! I am glad I stopped by.
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What if we all took the time to stop by instead of just liking. THANK YOU!!!
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I have often wondered this same thing! Thank you for putting these words out there today. 🙂
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I was really impressed with the way you made the connection between our students’ desperate need to be “liked,” if only in the virtual world of social media and how we, as writers, feel equally desperate for validation. I admit that I can’t wait to check my blog for comments!!! Sometimes I even feel a hitch in my throat when I notice others have twice as many comments as my slice. Your slice today was a reminder that, while others’ comments and reactions are the icing on the cake, the act of writing is the cake.
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Lori, thanks for the reminder of the cake. I, too, have felt the hitch. But the cake is plenty.
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So many great thoughts here. I have often thought that it would be so difficult to parent young children/teens these days, with all this “please like me” technology. I agree: “I am so grateful I am not a teen today.”
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