Course 1: Looking After Your Skin
Course 2: Coping with social media and the pressure to always look perfect
Students who engaged in this course learned practical advice on how to look after their skin at home and to know when to go to a doctor. They were taught what ingredients to look for in their products so they get the best results. They were encouraged to understand the current world they live in regarding social media and online marketing so they know not all is what it seems. Other topics covered included teenage insecurities and wellbeing; mental health issues like anxiety and low mood regarding their skin and their perception of their facial features.
Today’s teenagers are bombarded by ‘filtered’, ‘photoshopped’ and ‘airbrushed’ versions of their peers and idols every day through social media. They are targeted by cosmetic companies promising ‘miracle’ cures. Teens and parents often don’t know where to turn for reliable information on how to treat their skin and constantly come up against conflicting advice. Dr Louise Smyth’sonline course on ‘Skin health and wellbeing’ for teenagers tries answer all of their questions with factual and engaging content. The content is relevant for both male and female students, of every skin colour, with every skin type.
Dr Louise Smyth, during her years of experience as a GP seeing teenagers with acne and skin concerns, has noticed the same issues coming up again and again.
1) Stress, anxiety and low mood surrounding their skin, the biggest fear cited ‘feeling that it will never end’
2) Feeling that no one understands or can help them and feeling too embarrassed to talk to anyone
3) Feeling pressure to look like teens they see on social media
4) Spending a significant amount of time in their day worrying about flaws in their appearance
5) Incorrect use of skin products at home (with significant money spent on products that don’t help)
What our TY students said:
- It was very good and informative. I learnt a lot about my skin and skin type and how I can look after my skin better.
- I realised after the course that I really need to protect my skin better from damage caused by the environment, especially the sun.
- I really liked the skincare section, even though l don’t think my mom will be too happy with the new skin care products I’m going to buy :)
- I need to pay more attention to the influence of social media in my life. It plays a large part in our lives bit we cannot allow ourselves to fooled into thinking that some cosmetic procedures are “normal”.
- The session was really helpful and really informative. It not only teaches you how to treat acne, but all the causes of it as well, so that you can try to stop yourself from getting acne in the first place.
- There is huge pressure on teenagers to look ‘perfect’ on social media. This impacts how we feel. The second course helped me to identify what dangers of social media personally affect me based on my personality type. There are ways to manage these. Very interesting!
- After watching this information session I’m going try out all the steps mentioned to treat acne. I thought it was really helpful and helped me to understand how my skin works better.