LOVING TO HATE OURSELVES

Self-deprecation is utilized as a social tool but comes at a high cost

LOVING+TO+HATE+OURSELVES

Almost everyone has something that they want to change about themselves.

However, there is a clear-cut difference between wanting to improve, and simply wasting time insulting oneself. Lately, it seems that it has been incredibly common for teens to use negative slander to put themselves down, rather than confronting their insecurities head-on.

Instead of attempting to make goals, many teenagers waste time talking down their abilities. It’s simply fact that nobody is born the best at anything.

Olympians have worked their whole lives to become the best athlete in their sport, artists build up a technique throughout the years: all professionals put time and energy into excelling.

What’s upsetting is that our culture has reached a point where it’s become OK to capitalize on teenager’s issues of self-image. Adults are constantly asking themselves: “Why are teens these days so messed up?” Yet adults fail to recognize that they are the ones who romanticized these issues to begin with.

Teens are struggling with having to sift through things that media is constantly trying to tell them: movies, music, and social media that glorifies issues like depression, self-hate, and negative mindsets.

The irony is the ones in charge of creating this media are none other than the generation that is criticizing teens.

Now, young adults are stuck in this belief that if one feels good about themselves, then they’re doing something wrong.

Another awful aspect of this trend consists of teens resorting to trash talking themselves as a way to build relationships.

Teens are at a time in their lives when they’re trying to figure out who they are and where they belong in a changing social climate, and putting oneself down is a way to find where they fit.

An example of this could be a teen saying something like: “I’m so dumb”, or “I’m so fat” and a peer agreeing with “ugh, me too.”

Self-deprecation has almost become a cry of relatability. It can be easy to find redeeming qualities in someone who struggles with similar self-criticisms, but relationships with insults at their foundation lack the real depth that teens are trying to achieve anyway.

Additionally, teens use self-deprecation to enhance their social media presence.

Though tweeting something in a joking manner such as “I’m going to kill myself,” may seem trivial, it’s actually counterproductive to the goals we are trying to reach in 2018.

It negates the headway we’re attempting to make towards opening up the conversation about positive mental health.

It’s difficult to change something that has become such an underlying feature of most teen’s social skills. These overlooked personal slurs still cause undetected damage, such as boosting insecurities.

On an extreme level, negative self-talk creates a dangerous spiral that leads to low self esteem.

Changing such a common social standard begins with realizing the issue and calling one out for our missteps.

If self-deprecation becomes acceptable then it makes it OK for others