Why Teen Girls Need More Altruism on Social Media if Humanity Matters?

Who has not looked at a newborn baby girl and marveled at the perfect creation of humanity? The precious face, arms, legs, little fingers with near transparent fingernails and tiny toes. Who hasn’t looked at a little girl learning to walk with steadier steps and marveled at her innocence, openness to listen and the genuine warmth that generates the love that’s all accepting and transcendent?

Who hasn’t wished that each little girl will grow up through teen challenges to become a young responsible woman to motherhood herself as one of the most important roles she will ever have to give birth and pass on her values and unconditional love?

So, at what point along the rites of adolescent passage will they encounter social media, the recent interloper that is so omnipresent that it has normalized its manipulation as part of teenagers’ experiences? What platforms does it offer to stand on to recognize their needs for self- esteem, self-worth or life’s values? Where will they look to find inherent beauty and intrinsic worth? What will they take away from others to sustain their Selfie ego? What online world will they inhabit to cope with a selfish, aggressive, competitive and antisocial virtual reality?

When you are so young, how do you describe humanity as an abstraction or tell the difference between genuine social bonds and cheap artificial substitutes?

What is Humanity?

... a virtue linked with basic ethics of altruism derived from the human condition that also symbolises human love and compassion towards each other using kindness and social intelligence. (Wikipedia)

‎What is Altruism?

... the principle and moral practice of concern for happiness of other human beings or other animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual … it may become a synonym of selflessness, which is the opposite of selfishness. (Wikipedia)

So how does altruism fit into a profile frame

... built on number ratings and self-aggrandizement? Look at me … so special because I have so many followers and fans based on what objective criteria? Love me or leave me if I’m not hot enough, says who? What magical communication permits a Tinder profile to land a “true love?” What sensible logic is contained in 140 characters other than quick chirps such as this copy of a mother’s lament: “My 18 year old daughter told me to be careful tomorrow because tomorrow is “rape day.” Huh? She says this is trending on Tik-Tok. WTAF?!”

Enough empirical research studies now confirm that social media addiction does really provide dopamine surges that spin the cycle to “like me” to feel superior and worthy. However, if you don’t “click my likeability,” you will disappoint me and build my sense of failure and lack of self worth. You do not really know me but I’m brainwashed to follow the media hype, makeup, clothes and celebrity belfie butts … or just demean myself how small, ugly and in pain I am.

Does anyone really see me? How did my life end up like this? Why is it that no matter how hard I try, I don’t seem to be where I think I should be? How come following basic society’s rules of being a good and decent person only leads to sense of failure, not success?

Why do so many teen girls feel they are substandard by social media norms and abnormal fantasies? How many social needs and capacities are diminished and robbed of all they could be? How is humanity’s potential cheated on and altruism replaced by false prophets?

Others have observed that social media leads to a deeper force of dehumanization and inequality. Our teen girls deserve better than to walk around in a state of anxiety, depression, and helplessness. They must not be reduced and shrunken to a digitized set of pixels.

Undoubtedly, the real tragedy for such vulnerability, is that most teen girls do not realize how seriously and irretrievably their childhood is being assaulted by following their natural peer pressure to conform. Their adolescent brains react impulsively to new experiences but because they are still in formation, their deductive judgement calls can not be rationalized until the early twenties. They do not know how to verbalize their condition or angst and so the assault perpetuates into long term habits and beliefs.

Take another look at this beautiful little girl. Nobody wants her to struggle with social media paranoia but manage to survive this egregious viral beast with family's and friends' support. Everyone wants her to mature into a beautiful human with basic honest values, self confidence built on accomplishments and filled with compassion to help humanity in all ways she believes she can.

My heart breaks to think she could end up hopelessly wandering the viral world seeking false truths for survival.

So, what can we do as adults in competition with what I call a malignant giant circus clown face feeding on adolescent brains?

As a teacher, I have witnessed too many young girls walk that hall of mirrors to be “a player in someone else’s reality show, someone else’s character flaws, drama, wreckage and diet of extreme and extravagant lifestyles.”

So, I wrote a short, first-person narrative e-book called Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand: Struggles, Regrets and Survival in Social Media with Superpower Tool.

Its one purpose is to teach lessons from the base of one common value that all teen girls can learn to manage on social media; mainly, how we value our time is a common denominator for everyone.

It has one theme: The power of survival is making the right choices based on time frames to live offline as more important as online.

It uses 3 symbols to personify: an adolescent brain in a dream, a giant magnetic malicious clown face, and a delicate damsel fly.

It creates one image to last a lifetime ... an open hand holding a timeline with the tiny spark of choice.

Even as a story, a young teen girl talking to other teen girls just might be one way to address the trials and tribulations created by such unprecedented struggles for our young generation, girls and boys.

Let us show how humanity can work for everyone, especially with some mature help.

Annemarie Berukoff

Excerpt: Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand: A Timely Tale of Social Media Struggles, Regrets and Survival with Super Power Tool

“It (the adolescent brain)is getting fatter and heavier feeding on this data, spiking with bolder colors; strangely, both shrinking in some parts and expanding in other parts; strangely, more curious rather than frightened of this mayhem. How could it express what is happening; trying to be bold, positive, take a risk to prove a point, stupid choice, smart idea, propaganda or not, true or false, fact or opinion, what really matters? Who judges this strange mixed-up brew of what is normal or popular or false anymore? Mixed up ignorance and confidence is a dangerous mixture.

It is shaking and I can barely hear its cries, “Leave me alone. It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault.”