Representation 3: Young people are "soft"

“It’s a safety blanket: why more and more teenagers are relying on life coaches.” - Newspaper Article


Life coaching is not to be confused with therapy. “You go to therapy because something is broken and you want it to be fixed,” says the life coach Michael Bungay Stanier, “whereas in coaching we have the philosophy that you’re resourceful, creative and whole and it’s about amplifying what’s working now. Coaching is often short-term – six to 12 months – and very positive and goal-oriented, whereas therapy can move much slower and much deeper.”


Narrative

Whilst the heading might sound negative this newspaper article is a positive media article about the youth of today being proactive about their futures and using life coaches to help them navigate the often-challenging period of time to becoming an adult.  With four different stories of youth using life coaches from those who needed guidance as they were “falling of the rails” to those who simply wanted to ensure that they could obtain the best out of their education, the article delves into the many reasons why a young person might wish to use a life coach.  The article talks a lot about Generation Z and the fact that social media is often at the heart of most unhappiness that fuels or fills the youth of today with the generation “leaning on social media as their means of connection to other people.” (Kalia, 2019).    The article also exposes the ultimate question for most youth: “how should I live my life”.  In high school there is a lot of pressure on high stakes testing and obtaining the best marks in order to qualify for University and then in turn at 16 or 17 know what they wish to do as a career in their lives and using a life coach has been seen here as a positive way to help youth navigate this challenging time of life. (226 Words)

Scholarly Article

In this article there is talk about spending less time on social media in order to help young people thrive in their lives as it led to anxiety and loneliness without consumers recognising the why (Kalia, 2019).  The contributing reasons to these factors include the fact that consumers not only become envious of others “perfect lives” but also because of a desensitisation to reality.  Oyesomi and Salawu (2018) suggest that this is also the case regarding the sexualisation of women in music videos with viewers becoming accustomed to the way women are portrayed in the media rather than experiencing shock anymore at the various sexual innuendos and demeaning names referring to women (p. 12059).  Their study concluded that when asked, young women would in fact agree that music videos did influence body image in the participants and included outcomes such as body dissatisfaction, loss of values and is one of the biggest information sourcing concerning beauty and attractiveness (Oyesomi & Salawu, 2018, p. 12069).  (154 Words)

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Representation 1: "Are you as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside?"

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