IMPORTANT ISSUE. COUNTERING BODY IMAGE: BULLYING AND PEER PRESSURE

You are reading a report from UNFPA indicating that fear of body image and shaming (bullying and peer pressure) are the most dominating mental health risk factors among adolescents. This can lead to anxiety which includes excessive and uncontrollable worry, strong fears around everyday situations, unwanted thoughts, panic attacks, or fears around social situations. It can also lead to depression which affects a person’s mood (emotions), the way they feel. This can affect every part of an adolescent’s life, feeling sad, or hopeless. If not addressed, this can lead to Risk-taking behaviours, such as alcohol or substance use or sexual risk-taking, starting during adolescence. Risk-taking behaviours can be an unhelpful strategy to cope with emotional difficulties and can severely impact an adolescent’s mental and physical well-being. And thus, family, school, and community environments must play a huge role in supporting adolescent’s mental well-being; helping adolescents to develop the social and emotional skills they need to deal with body image and shaming (bullying and peer pressure).

Prepare a counter-narrative campaign. Counter-narrative campaign

 You may recall what a counter-narrative campaign is (you can find a description and example here). Get a group together and get to work.

After reviewing and understanding the example on the handout, take a look at the picture with the Edvard Munch’s Half-Nude in a Blue Skirt painting. Your group must use this Edvard Munch’s Half-Nude in a Blue Skirt painting to talk about how body image: bullying and peer pressure affect adolescent’s mental health and well-being. That is:

• The painting is your medium. So, you have to create a message about body image (bullying and peer pressure) and adolescent’s mental health.
• To create your campaign, please use the campaign log-frame for task 2 by answering the provide questions.

In case of double, please consult the handout to reflect on the best ways to answer each question.

Campaign’s name

What is the name of your counter-narrative campaign

Campaign’s audience(s)

Describe your audience characteristics. That is, who are the people that your campaign is targeting. Where and when are they engaged on social media?

Campaign’s impact(s)

What is the behavioural or social change the campaign aims to contribute to. That is, the long-term results you want to achieve with your campaign.

Campaign’s goal(s)

Describes how or by which means your campaign will contribute to achieving the expected impact.

Campaign’s objective(s)

How many people you aim to reach with your campaign? How many social media posts or campaign content you aim to produce?

Campaign’s content

Create the content of your campaign: create your message; add the message to your medium; select a messenger (optional); and develop your call to action.

Campaign’s dissemination

Which social media channels will you use to run the campaign. That is, how will you create visibility, or by which means will you spread the content of your campaign?

Campaign’s evaluation

Which methods will you use to assess whether you are achieving set goals and objectives? Which type of monitoring and evaluation indicators do you aim to use?