Teen Esteem Council Podcast

We are happy to have Rachel back with us again. Last week Rachel talked about how she realized that the paradigm, or worldview that she was living by was not working for her and how she changed it. Today she joins us to talk about the importance of making choices that take you toward what you really want in life. We also talk about how much relationahips effect the self esteem of teenage girls.

Today we return to the content of our book, Dropping Him, Finding Me. We ask our special guest, Rachel (you will recognize her voice), how she was able to overcome many of the typical issues that teenage girls face. She is a great example of all four of the pillars of self esteem that we talk about in our book.  

We all love our cell phones right? In fact, most of the time I can't imagine a day without mine although for years and years, I surived without it. It's funny how the importance of things changes when you're so used to having it.  Today, Mat and I discuss a USA Today post that asked the question, "how many people are using their cell phones to cope with boredom."  The answer is A LOT!!!!  Mat and I talked about whether or not at different times if using your cell phone can be healthy and good and a way to cope with stress or other negative things or if in fact it can be a unhealthy way of avoiding things that you don't want to talk or think about. I've also posted below a link of an article from USA Today that I really like and was entitled, "Cell phones: a lifeline or boredom staller."  Let us know what you think. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-08-16-pew-cellphones_n.htm

Pick up a book and be transported anywhere. Pick up a book and learn something new that can change your life forever. With all of the electronic media out there, we wanted to take some time and talk about the importance of reading. It is so easy to fill our time with movies, T.V., and video games. Millions of videos have been streamed and millions of hours have been spent watching them on sites like YouTube. I would make sense that teens are reading less. In today's podcast, Summer, Mat, and Chantel give some reasons why reading is important. 

Mistakes... we all make them. If everyone makes mistakes, then why are some people so afraid to make them. Chantel joins Mat and Summer to talk about mistakes. The conversation focuses mostly on being afraid to make social mistakes, but ends with some advice that could change your perspective on making mistakes in general.

Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of September 11th. Summer and I wasnted to use today's podcast to acknowledge what happened that day and to briefly discuss how life has changed since then. Many of our listeners are young enough that they may not remember, or rather know, how life is different than it was before the attacks.  We want to thank all of our service men and women who have put their lives on the line protecting our country over the last 10 years.  We also refer to a great piece done by People Magazine. The article catches up with children who were not even born when their fathers dies in the 9/11 attacks. 

Do you get aggravated easily when small problems arise in your life. Mat and Summer discuss ways that you can stop letting the little things have such an impact in your life. 

This is a topic that we could probbly do a few podcasts on. There are tons of ways that teen girls compensate for having low self esteem. One of the things that they do is to fish for compliments or try to get people to say nice things to you. This discussion talks about why relying on compliments for self esteem does not work long term.

Well, summer vacation is coming to a close. All over the nation teens are getting ready to walk back into classrooms. It is time to go back to school. Today Cara is with us and shares some of her thoughts on starting high school. We also talk to Cara about making the volleyball team.  We have some great tips that can help you begin a very successful school year.

We talk a lot about self esteem. We have never talked about efficacy. So, what's the difference? Why is efficacy important? Mat and Summer answer those questions and discuss how efficacy and esteem are related.

I could not be more excited about today's podcast. Our guest today is Zoe Jackson. She is an amzing young woman who has accomplished some amazing things. At the age of 16 she created the Livning The Dream Performing Arts Company. It is a performing arts company that is run by young people for young people. Zoe was kind enough to spend a few minutes with us to tell us her story. She is passionate about helping teens realize their dreams.  Her company allows youth to develop their skills in a vast amount of different roles in the industry. I encourage you to visit http://www.livingthedreamcompany.co.uk/about_us.html to find out more. I apologize for the sound quality on this podcast. The rocording did not work very well on my end and Cara, Chantel, and I are hard to understand. Zoe comes through loud and clear though, and her words inspired all of us during the interview. I am sure that you will be inspired too.

Today one of our long lost council members makes a return to the podcast. Aubin is here again with us today and she shares her experience with doing loca beauty pageants. She has some great insights, as a participant, on how pageants can help girls with their self confidence, help them develop new talents, and give them an opportunity to serve and help others.

Amanda does the intro today for the first time. She was nervous, but she does a great job. Summer treats us with a Tuned-In Moment. There are a lot of people who almost do an act of service for someone, but then they don't follow through. Summer gives us an example of following through. Today we talk about journaling. It is something that I think is super important! We talk about why journaling is important. We give you some tips that may help you start journaling or make your journaling more meaningful.  Even though we joke in the podcast about what is in our middle and high school journals, I am incredibly greateful that I wrote in them and kept them. It reminds me of how important my relationships and experiences that I had were. They are the experiences, relationships, and feelings that are shaping the rest of your life.

It is the middle of July. There are a lot of families who take their vacations this time of year. Family vacations are very important for families. They provide a time that families can be together outside of the regular routine. When family members participate in family vacations they have an opportunity to build relationships and connect with family members in different ways. Today we share some of our favorite family vacation ideas. It may be a little late (your family may have already done their vacation this year), but some of these ideas are simple and are something that your family may still be interested in doing.

In today's podcast we have a brief discussion about the documentary America the Beautiful. We discuss the different ways that boys views girls. We talk about the media and its influence. 

In today's podcast we celebrate the return of Amanda. We want to congratulate her on her high school graduation that took place a while ago. Today we talk about how being involved in extracurricular activities can help you grow and can help your self esteem. We talk about what each of our Council members are involved in. I don't think it is a coincidence that the girls that we have on our council, who are incredible and have great self images, are all involved with something that they enjoy that keeps them busy and allows them to develop talents. We highly recommend each of our listeners find something that they love doing and go for it!

There are a lot of things that happen in the lives of teens that are challenging and hard. I don't know if there is anything more difficult or confusing as the taking of one's own life. A situation that we heard about led us to think that this could be a good topic for our listeners. Whenever a person loses someone or something in life, there is an element of grief. There is a theory about grief called the Kübler-Ross Model that can help someone understand what they are feeling. In our podcast today we discuss each of the stages of grief and the feelings and attitudes that are associated with them. 

Today we have Cara and Chantel joining us again. They share some great thoughts about modesty. We talk about the pressure that teen girls face to wear revealing clothes. We also discuss why girls may choose to dress immodestly.

We are glad to have Cara and Chantel along with us again for our latest podcast. Today we spend a little time discussion some of our favorite TV shows that you may be able to catch up on over the summer. Disclaimer: We do not advocate sitting around watching TV all day. However, sometimes it is nice to veg out for a little while and distract your mind.

We are ecstatic to introduce our two newest members of the Teen Esteem Council. Cara and Chantel. Find out about them in today's podcast. We also go through a list of ideas that may be fun for your summer break.