The brain development of adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old is a crucial time to understand as the brain is undergoing extensive reconstruction. During this time, the brain goes through a use it or lose it stage which means a process of pruning begins where unused connections in the thinking and processing section of the child’s brain is eliminated. This procedure to remove grey matter within the brain commences in the back. Due to the back being the first place to reconstruct, the prefrontal cortex is remodelled last resulting in teenagers needing to utilise the amygdala to make decisions and solve problems. The detrimental part of applying the use of the amygdala as a teenager is that it is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour. In a world that constantly demands quick answers and resolutions, teenagers are making decisions based on emotions rather than the logical thinking processes that adults follow. This explains why teenagers believe that adults don’t understand them and why adults find it hard to connect and reason with adolescents.
Statistics and online research reveals the following about high school aged female students:
-
44% of female high school students attempt to lose weight.
-
over 70% of girls aged 15-17 avoid normal daily activities, such as attending school, when they feel bad about themselves.
-
7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or measure up.
Another problem faced by teenagers in this era is social media. Teenagers are constantly attached to a phone, laptop, iPod or iPad resulting in small to large addictions with social media apps such as Instagram, snapchat, Facebook and twitter. The reason for addiction with apps is the sense of reward teenagers receive from the likes and the comments received on posts. These actions release the hormone dopamine as it gives the teen a good feeling and reassurance of their worth.
Along with the information above, it is important to understand that during the development of the brain, young adult’s brains respond significantly to rewards and pleasure as it is sought through the nucleus accumbens. Through rewards and pleasure, dopamine is released in high doses resulting in a rush and gives teenagers the same feelings that are experienced when accessing new experiences, risks and thrills. The feelings accessed by teenagers through social media are the equivalent feelings rewarded when drinking alcohol, taking drugs and gambling. All these activities are highly addictive because dopamine is released and gives the users a rush that they enjoy, the same goes for teenagers when they receive constant likes and comments.
The problem with addiction to likes and comments, the approval of others, is that teenagers begin to believe their self-worth is based upon the opinions of others. This is where the growing epidemic of mental illnesses, self-doubt, body shaming and low self-esteem has stemmed from and teens are unaware of how to deal with their problems as these issues are swept under the rug or have stigmas surrounding them to the point that teenagers feel like they can’t speak out or ask for help.
With the above mentioned, I would like to create a product that educates and helps teenage girls aged 13-19 to unlock their full potential and understand all the emotions of growing up in a world that is continually increasing the shame and hate placed upon this generation. This product will deal with issues commonly faced by teenage girls such as body shame, friendship problems and breakdowns, mental illness, breakouts, periods and low self-esteem. This product will be made to empower and enlighten teenage girls so that they can face the world with a silent confidence within themselves and a love for others.