I’m so lucky to be asked to speak in classrooms from preschool to college age often over the years. I talk and write a lot about body positive parenting as well to those of us who used to be kids and are now raising them. In fact, I just told the class of high school students I spoke to two weeks ago that when I was their age I desperately needed someone like me in front of them saying things about acceptance and kindness and that we are more than our bodies. I told them that motherhood made me an activist - that giving birth to this girl 18 years ago solidified the idea that I wanted her to grow up in a different world than I did and that I could be just one voice helping to make that happen. I soon realized I could use that voice to benefit all kids. (I say this every single time I speak anywhere.) And as a mom I have realized while I can’t inoculate my children from all the struggles of being human, I can walk alongside them and provide them the tools to help them thrive.
That baby is now a senior in high school and has been accepted into every single college and university in Idaho. She recently applied for the Honors College at Boise State University and part of the application process was an essay under 400 words with this prompt:
What is a class you wish would have been offered in your high school curriculum and why?
She wrote this without my assistance and just got admitted and let me read it AND share it with you and my heart is bursting.
“A Class on Body Acceptance
During the beginning of my adolescent years, it became apparent to me that my body was changing. I was significantly taller than most of my peers and had frizzy hair, not to mention the red dots that started to develop on my face. I noticed the differences between my body and other girl’s bodies, and I became envious of their features. I was confused and sad because I had never had these types of thoughts before. These odd feelings never stopped, and in fact, they became worse.
Growing up in the age of social media and body morphing technology, it’s difficult not to compare yourself to others, especially when the people on your Instagram feed have glowing skin and toned stomachs. Even your classmate who sits beside you in your biology class posts pictures of their ‘perfect’ body on the internet. It’s not uncommon for people, famous or not, to use technology to change how their body appears in photos, especially because of its easy accessibility. Apps such as Facetune can make a person’s teeth whiter, change their hair color, or even enhance particular parts of their body. Some people are going so far as to surgically alter their body in ways that they see fit. Plastic surgery is increasing in popularity not solely because of society’s technological advancements but also because of the pressure to always appear flawless.
Classes such as health and physical education are good ways to learn about how the human body functions and how to take proper care of it but these courses often reinforce societal norms around how a person’s body should look. Students are oftentimes taught that having a skinny body is equivalent to being healthy and having a larger body is equivalent to being unhealthy. Luckily, throughout my life I have had the privilege of being taught to appreciate my body but many of my peers can not say the same. Having a class that teaches body acceptance would be very beneficial, especially to growing teenagers. Teaching students that their body is normal, no matter the size or color, could help their self-esteem, especially when they are constantly consuming pictures and videos of people that society has deemed desirable. We all have our differences and being able to accept and appreciate them at a younger age will help us in the long run.”
