15 Year Old Female: Divorce/Sports/Self-Esteem
15 Year Old Female: Divorce/Sports/Self-Esteem
Listen as this high schooler shares the challenges she faced in order to make it as captain of the cheerleading squad.
In this episode of A Teen’s Perspective, host Dr. RJ Jackson is helping parents see the future. He interviews a 15-year-old female and they discuss her fears, insecurities, and experiences in high school.
To begin, they discuss the guest’s upbringing in a divorced household. She has a close relationship with both her parents and stepfather. Her parents made the transition into divorce easy by working together and attending all of her events and activities. The guest believes her relationships with her parents would have been very challenging if her parents would have stayed together. Currently within their relationship, her mom is encouraging but also freely gives criticism and rules, while her dad is more willing to give more freedoms, especially with curfews.
The guest also discusses her dating relationship over the past three years and how her and her boyfriend met one another. She is glad that they get to grow and experience middle school and high school together. They have shared a lot of struggles together, including her boyfriend’s battle with depression.
The guest discusses depression among high school teenagers and their need to fit in. She has personally felt the stress of social media and the comparison of others. The guest has struggled with body image issues, which turned into multiple sets of extreme dieting. She shares her struggles with jealousy that stems from her body image issues. The guest tells a story about being hurt by her boyfriend and her distrust of another girl.
Next, the guest shares the difficulties of joining the cheer team. She explains the details of fighting through multiple physical injuries. However, she continued to work hard, practice, and recover, and she is now a junior varsity cheer captain. Her mom and dad are very cautious about her cheering, but they know their daughter has talent. In cheer, there is a lot of favoritism, even among the coaches. When a cheerleader is not a favorite, they are more prone to be beaten down and discouraged.
Finally, the guest shares her advice for parents with teenagers. She believes that parents should be as supportive as possible. She says that parents should not focus on the negatives of their child, but should uplift them in their efforts. She also gives advice on how to deal with jealousy, especially while dating.
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