High school demands, social media influences, and the never-ending pandemic are all very mentally stressful for the students of our high school. In January, the new social worker, Shayla Brink, decided to do something about the stress.

“High school’s a very hard time for everyone because you want to stand out and fit in and alter your own image to do so,” Brink said. The omnipresence of social media like TikTok and Snapchat contributes to this idea as well. Brink says that students are always surrounded by ads and images that try to dictate exactly what they should look like or what they should be doing and buying.

Adolescents can’t always meet these high expectations, and some of them view themselves negatively as a result. Brink’s newly formed Self-Image Group, which first met on January 22, centers around counteracting these negative thoughts.

“The main focus of it is to build self-esteem,” Brink said. “I feel like when you talk about self-esteem, it’s usually in a negative perspective; so I want to help [students] create a positive self-image, be proud of who [they] are, and celebrate that [they’re] unique and different.”

She further said that the Self-Image Group will achieve these goals by having its members participate in related activities such as writing in a self-care journal, drawing a self-portrait of how they view themselves and how others see them, learning how to use positive self-talk, and recognizing their strengths to improve their self-image.

However, the Self-Image Group currently only has one actively attending member. Because of this, Brink said that any student who is in 9th grade or higher can join this group as long as they contact her first to obtain parent/guardian permission.

If you would like to become a part of the Self-Image Group, please contact Brink through Canvas or in her office (Room 116) to let her know you’re interested and to obtain a permission slip for using the social worker services. The group meets on Days 5 and 6 in Room 133.