K ID S THESE D AY S
Beauty is Only Skin Deep by Tara Bailey
I
remember being horrified a few years ago when a coworker told me a chilling but apparently common story. Her thirteen-year-old niece had posted several photos of herself on social media along with the caption: rate me. As instructed, her peers cast their opinions of her images in number form, none terribly high. So she decided she was ugly and worthless. The resulting emotional devastation led to attempts at self harm followed by hospitalization. I’ve never met this child but was heartbroken for her and also for her family, who desperately wanted this girl to love herself as much as they did. I don’t know how she is doing today, but I have thought about her many times, hoping she has the kind of peace that comes from recognizing one’s self-worth. But that kind of peace often doesn’t arrive until adulthood. Until then, we parents have to remain vigilant in helping our kids avoid falling into traps set by this new digital world we didn’t grow up in and are often unfamiliar with.
Not that I am Luddite by any means. I love social media and admit to groaning when other people post photos of me that I didn’t personally curate. While I have no use for filters, which I’ve always thought give people a somewhat anime quality, I do make a face in pictures that my husband calls the “middle-aged smile.” It seems I open my eyes wider than is natural in order to avoid the appearance of crow’s feet in photos. I don’t even realize that I do this until I see the pictures. The result is as charming as it sounds, and he swears that everyone in my demographic does this. I also suck in my gut, for what it’s worth. All that said, I really don’t care how I look in pictures—or in reality. I recently went to the grocery store directly after getting a massage, looking as oily as a freshly-opened can of sardines, and I ran into my local senator. Did I care? Nope. Did he? Doubtful. That’s because we’re at a stage in life where the main goal is to get through the day
ILLUS TRAT ION BY Jas o n Wa g e n e r Spring 2019 AZALEAMAG.COM
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