Written by Maryam in Year 12
On Monday 9th October, the Young Leadership Team and members of Student Voice attended a Conference at Llandaff Cathedral, titled “Am I Okay?”. The main themes revolved around social media, phones, and their effect on us as teenagers.
The day began with an interesting talk about subliminal messaging on social media and its effects on our subconscious mind. Subliminal messages are hidden words or images that are not consciously perceived but can influence one’s attitudes and behaviours. It has been used in advertising for decades and on social media it can become a huge issue. Something as small as a meme can affect your mood and self-perception for a while. For example, a meme about constantly being tired influences you to feel constantly tired.
We then learnt about boundaries; what they are, their importance, and how to keep them. We went into breakout rooms and compared our personal screen times with others, this was certainly eye-opening. We were able to discuss how we could set boundaries between us and our phones. Our phones allow us constant access to others (and others constant access to us) so being able to set limits and clear boundaries is extremely important. Using private accounts, turning on Do Not Disturb and even the block function are all extremely helpful ways of setting boundaries.
There was also an emphasis on navigating social media culture as it has become so embedded in our lives. Life would be very different without social media. There is a constant need for validation; archiving a post if you don’t get enough likes and checking how many people viewed your story, it is a constant cycle. Realising that value does not come from external validation and likes, but from you is important. We also learnt that algorithms also play a huge role in our addiction to social media. For example, if you 'liked' one cat video and soon your whole feed is filled with cats. Social media websites are programmed to keep us glued to them as long as possible. We must be wary of this and be careful not to go down a rabbit hole of the same information. In short: be mindful while scrolling.
Overall, it was an interesting day with plenty of good discussions and meeting other students from local colleges. Relevant topics were discussed, and everyone enjoyed the breaks and sweet treats.