Year 8 Body Esteem Presentation
On Wednesday, 27 July Year 8 students participated in an incursion conducted by The Butterfly Foundation. We were very fortunate to have Melissa, an expert in mental health concerning body esteem come in to deliver this presentation. Butterfly has been offering evidence based, age and developmentally appropriate programs in schools and other youth settings since 2006.
The presentation introduced the following areas, with Year 8 Homeroom teachers delving deeper into these points over the coming weeks:
- Strategies to build resilience and increase self-esteem and body confidence.
- The various influences on body image.
- Media and social media literacy skills, including challenging appearance ideals and unhelpful messaging.
- Modifiable risk factors that underpin the development of more serious eating issues.
- Protective factors including the role of friends/peers, the importance of healthy relationships with food and exercise and respect for diversity.
- Help seeking for those experiencing more serious issues.
The presentation was received quite positively with the students, who are looking forward to the opportunity to investigate the areas covered above in greater detail this term.
Two Year 8 students have provided their views of the presentation, as well as detailed what they learned:
The introduction of the Butterfly Foundation was interesting and educational. I gained knowledge on fostering self-esteem and resilience through this presentation. As a result, my capacity to analyse media and social media more critically has improved. Additionally, the presentation made clear the risk factors for image dissatisfaction and how to address them. I realised how important it is to ask for assistance. Thanks to the foundation, I'm more driven than ever to study more so that I can help my friends and myself. For the rest of my life, especially during my Secondary years, I shall recall this experience. - Ishaan 8E
The Butterfly Presentation was an incursion of paramount significance in our lives. In the presentation, I learned about how self-image and body image is so crucial in every single individual's life. The information is vital as it shows us that we are a unique and body ideals are not realistic. This matches one of my favourite quotes. 'Everything that is perfect is not real and everything that is real is not perfect.' To apply this information learned, we could reach out to the Butterfly Foundation for advice on our issues surrounding body ideals. - Nandini 8B
The Year 8 Homeroom teachers and I are very much looking forward to continuing to deliver the Body Esteem program over the next few weeks.