Hi, I'm Ms. Lowe and I'm your RSHE teacher for today.

Thank you so much for choosing to complete your learning with me.

Now, because of some of the themes and topics covered in today's lesson, it's important that you complete your learning today with the company of an adult.

So here is our outcome for today's lesson, and by the end, you are gonna be able to describe the ways that social media can impact your self-esteem.

Every RSHE lesson should begin with a set of ground rules.

This ensures that every conversation had in RSHE is respectful and we're all able to learn effectively.

So Laura is reminding us that in RSHE, we should listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

And when disagreeing, we challenge the statement and not the person.

Andeep is reminding us to respect privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we don't use names or descriptions that can identify anyone, including ourselves.

Izzy is reminding us to choose a level of participation that suits us.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in a discussion, but we never put anyone on the spot.

And finally, Jacob is reminding us that in RSHE, there is no judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without the fear of being judged.

And here are the keywords for today's lesson, so let's go through those definitions together.

Online persona, an identity people use online to shape the way that people view them.

It is often different to how a person is in real life.

Self-esteem, how we value and perceive ourselves.

Self-confidence, the faith we have in our ability to achieve something.

And here is the outline for today's lesson.

So we are beginning today by asking the question, why do people post on social media? Now, people will post on social media for a variety of different reasons.

Some of the reasons are really positive.

For example, lots of people use social media as a form of self-expression.

And Laura is illustrating a fantastic example of that here.

She's telling us that she likes to share images of her art with her friends online.

So she's using social media as a platform to show others the things that she's passionate about.

Others might post online to positively connect with their friends or their family.

Some may even use social media to connect with friends who have similar interests or hobbies, so using community sites where they can meet people of similar interests to them.

And some may even use it to connect professionally with others about their job, so there are social media sites that exist purely for professional communication, finding jobs, et cetera.

And there are loads of other positive ways that people can post online.

These include posting online to preserve memories of special occasions, such as a birthday or a wedding or a holiday.

It could be that they post online to inspire other people.

They might post online with information about causes and issues that matter to them.

And they might use social media to share educational information.

And we can see an example of this here on the left of somebody using social media to preserve a memory of a special occasion.

So Aisha has posted on her social media a lovely picture of her on holiday in 2010.

Now, sometimes when people post online, they do it to build up what we call an online persona.

An online persona is the version of someone's personality, identity or character that they choose to present on the internet.

This online persona could be authentic, exaggerated, curated, which means carefully selected, or an online persona could be entirely fictional.

It all depends on the person's motivations.

Now let's pause here and we'll check our understanding.

So a person's online persona is an accurate reflection of who they are.

Pause the video, have a think about whether that statement is true or false, and then we'll go through the answer together.

Well done if you said false.

But why is this false? Well, an online persona is a version of a person's personality that they want to show on the internet.

Now, this online persona could be exaggerated or completely fictional.

But no matter what, an online persona is not an accurate reflection of who a person is.

So some online personas do reflect an authentic side of a person's life and the things that they post reflect a side of who they are.

So Tom is giving us an example here.

He says that on social media sites, he posts content for his job, so his online persona is very professional and polished.

Holly said that she posts a lot of content about beauty and hair care, so her online persona is focused all around this.

But in real life, she has lots of other interests and hobbies.

So these online personas do show a real side of their personality, their lives and their lifestyle, but it doesn't make up their entire person or personality.

Now, some online personas are exaggerated, and this means that they're not an accurate reflection of the person at all.

So Jack here is saying that he sometimes posts pictures that make his life at home look more luxurious than it is.

He wants people to think that he lives in a big house and he has lots of material things.

Chloe also has a more exaggerated online persona.

She says that she tries to appear more confident online than she is in real life.

She says that she feels insecure about the way that she looks, so she'll sometimes edit photos to make her look different.

So people might exaggerate online personas as a way to gain more likes, more follows, and more interactions online.

Some people might also exaggerate an online persona as a way to make others feel jealous or envious of their lifestyle.

We saw that previously with Jack posting pictures of big homes, material items, and this lavish lifestyle that he doesn't really have.

Posting content that shows a person's lifestyle more positive than it really is can hide areas of their life that they're unsatisfied with and it can make them look much more happy and more fulfilled than they really are.

So having an online persona isn't necessarily a bad thing, as there are some areas of our lives that we want to keep private.

We don't necessarily show everything about ourselves on social media.

However, the issue with an online persona arises when a person feels that they have to hide areas of their personality to make others want to interact with them, and this can be a sign of low self-esteem.

And nurse Daniel here is telling us something really important.

He's saying that if you are experiencing low self-esteem, it's really important that you speak to a trusted adult or a medical professional.

We're gonna check our understanding here.

So people might create an online persona to.

I want you to read through those four possible answers, tell me which ones you think are correct, and then we'll go through the right answers together in just a moment.

Well done if you said that A, C, and D are correct.

Yes, people might create an online persona to gain more likes and follows, to gain more interaction online, and to show only one side of their personality.

Well done if you got all three of those correct.

Now we're gonna put our learning into practise, so I would like for you to write one paragraph explaining why people post on social media.

In your paragraph, I want you to include the following information.

I'd like you to include information on online personas, why people create online personas, and what online personas might be a sign of.

So pause the video, start working on those paragraphs, and we'll go through what you might have written in just a moment.

Excellent work there.

So you were asked to write one paragraph explaining why people post on social media.

And you might have said people post online for a variety of reasons, such as to preserve memories, express themselves, to connect with friends, or to inspire others.

People may create an online persona which they use to show a particular side of their personality or life.

For example, influencers may post about hair and beauty or gaming.

Some may create online personas to hide a part of their personality or even exaggerate something.

They might do this to gain more likes, follows, and interactions online.

Creating an online persona to hide who you really are as a person may be a sign of low self-esteem.

Well done if you included any of those things in your answer, excellent work.

We are moving on now to the second part of our lesson where we are asking the question, how does social media impact self-esteem? So our self-esteem can be impacted by different things online.

It can be impacted by what we post on social media.

So Andeep here has posted a picture of a beautiful seafront scene, and he's got a lovely comment underneath, saying, "Your photos are great, Andeep." So his self-esteem is being positively impacted here by what he's posted because he's got a lovely comment back.

However, our self-esteem can also be impacted by what others post on social media.

So we have Andeep again here and he's looking at a picture of a big house online, and he says, "I wish my house looked like that." So we can see his self-esteem is being impacted here because he's starting to compare himself to what others have online.

Our self-esteem can sometimes improve through what we post on social media.

So Aisha has given us a great example here, she's saying that people's self-esteem can be impacted when they receive positive feedback on their posts, which can make them feel valued.

Jun is telling us that people can make positive connections with others on social media and it can allow them to connect with their friends and loved ones.

And Sam is telling us that people can express their creative side online to show their skills and talents, which might bring them joy.

However, self-esteem and self-confidence can often be closely tied to how many likes, comments, or follows that we receive on social media.

As a result, people might start to link their self-worth to external approval, and this means linking how you feel about yourself and how good you are, your ability to do things, to what other people say or think about you.

Alex is telling us that this can lead us to think that the things that we post and do are only good or worthwhile if other people say that they are.

What we post on social media can also impact our self-esteem if we put pressure on ourselves to be perfect in everything that we do.

People may feel this pressure to maintain a perfect online persona, and this can make them feel stressed or unworthy when they don't meet those same perfect standards offline.

So Holly here is giving us an example about herself.

She says, "I sometimes feel pressure to have perfect hair and makeup all the time, even when I'm offline, because that is what I post about online." Now we're gonna check our understanding here about what we've just learned.

So what we post online always has a positive impact on our self-esteem.

Pause the video, decide whether that is true or false, and we'll go through the correct answer together in a moment.

Well done if you said false.

But why is this false? Well, people can attach their self-esteem to interactions with others online, and this means that their self-esteem is determined by external approval, so determined by what others think and feel about them.

Well done if you said false.

So what we see other people posting on social media can negatively impact our self-esteem.

This may place us in something that we call a comparison trap.

And Lucas is explaining this, he says that this is where people feel compelled to look at others online and compare their own experiences, the things that they own, and their lifestyle to theirs.

People can begin to feel inadequate or less than others when they fall into this trap, and this can start to have a serious effect on their self-esteem and their self-confidence.

Seeing others' achievements, lifestyle, or belongings can also affect people's self-esteem negatively because it can cause people to feel like they're missing out, that they're not doing as much as other people.

For example, Chloe is telling us here that all her friends are posting pictures of the summer jobs that they've gotten, and it's making her feel like she's really falling behind.

So comparing herself and where she's at in her life to others that she sees online is clearly having a negative impact on her self-esteem.

People may also assume that if a person has lots of followers on social media, then they must have lots of friends in real life and are really popular.

Having fewer online followers than someone else may make a person feel less popular or likeable, and this might impact their self-esteem.

Lucas is giving us here a great piece of advice.

He's saying, "Online followers are not necessarily friends, as they aren't always people that we interact with in real life." And Aisha here is responding and she says, "Celebrities and influencers can have millions of followers." And she's quite right in saying that it would be physically, literally impossible to actually have meaningful friendships with that many people.

So the amount of followers or friends that people have online don't necessarily correlate to a person's popularity or number of friends in real life, and that's really important to remember.

Now, online we might experience or witness negative comments, trolling, cyberbullying, or harassment on social media, and this can deeply harm a person's self-esteem and it can make them want to change things about themselves.

Now it's really important that if you ever experience or witness these things online, that you speak to a trusted adult.

You should also block and report the account online that's harassing or upsetting you or someone else.

And if you're unsure how to do this, a trusted adult can help you.

There are certain factors that might increase the likelihood of social media having a negative impact on a person's self-esteem, such as age.

Teenagers may feel more self-conscious during puberty, which will make interactions online impact their self-esteem more.

Also the amount of time that a person spends online.

So the more time a person spends on social media, the likelihood of encountering content that impacts self-esteem increases.

Therefore, it is common for young people to experience negative self-esteem due to social media.

Now there's things that we can do to help protect our self-esteem, such as reducing screen time and reminding ourselves that our unique qualities should be celebrated and we shouldn't compare ourselves to others.

Now we're gonna check our understanding here.

True or false? Alex is saying, "Comparing ourselves to others online is a good thing because it gives us something to aspire to." So pause the video here, have a think about whether what Alex is saying is true or false, and then we'll go through the correct answer together.

Well done if you said false.

But why is this false? Well, people can begin to feel that they are inadequate if they constantly compare themselves to others online.

This can seriously affect their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Well done again if you said false.

Now we're gonna put our learning into practise.

So what I want for you to do is I want you to label this image with four to five reasons, or ways, sorry, that social media can negatively impact a person's self-esteem and self-confidence.

So pause the video, have a think about some ways that social media can impact a person's self-esteem and self-confidence, and then we'll go through some things that you might have written in just a moment.

Great work, now let's go through some of the things that you might have said.

So people can feel like they're missing out or falling behind when looking at other people's achievements, belongings or lifestyle.

People can feel pressure to maintain their online persona.

People can fall into a comparison trap with others online and it can make them feel inadequate.

Having fewer followers than someone else may make a person feel less popular or likeable.

Cyberbullying or negative comments online can make people want to change things about themselves.

And people can become too reliant on external approval.

Well done if you mentioned any of the things there in your answers.

We are moving on now to the final part of our lesson where we're gonna be asking the question, how can we feel more secure on social media? There are lots of different ways to make us feel more secure while using social media.

For example, we could start to follow more accounts that promote positive feelings around self-confidence.

We could also unfollow or mute accounts that have the opposite effect and cause us to feel negative emotions.

It's important that we set boundaries on social media because this too can help us to feel more secure.

Sofia is saying that limiting your time on social media will reduce the chances of seeing content that negatively impacts your self-esteem.

Izzy is telling us to take regular breaks from being online so that you can enjoy and focus on the life that we have offline.

Another great way to feel more secure on social media is practising gratefulness because this can help us to feel more secure.

Instead of focusing on what others have and what we don't, try to think about the things that you have in your life and that you're grateful for.

For example, going back to Andeep seeing that picture of that big house, instead of looking at it and saying, "Oh, I wish my house looked like that, I wish I lived there." He's saying, "Well, even though that house is amazing, I'm so grateful for the house that I live in with my family who I love." And this is a really good way to feel more secure, focusing on the things that you are happy about and grateful for in your own life.

Another way we can feel more secure is by focusing on meaningful relationships.

Instead of looking at people whose posts make us feel insecure, we should focus on connecting with people who we love or make us feel good both online and offline.

Use social media as a way to build meaningful relationships rather than using it as a way to seek external approval.

Let's pause here and let's check our understanding.

So focusing on blank relationships can make us feel more secure on social media.

Pause the video and have a think about which word there might be missing from the sentence, and then we'll go through the correct answer together.

Well done if you said meaningful.

Yes, focusing on meaningful relationships can make us feel more secure on social media.

Well done if you got that correct.

So another way that we can feel more secure on social media is instead of comparing ourselves to others online, we can try to focus on our own personal growth.

This means rather than feeling jealous or insecure about somebody else's achievements, we can focus on how we can achieve something that we want to.

So Chloe here is saying that instead of worrying about other people having summer jobs, she's gonna start looking for one of her own.

She'd like to earn some money so she can go to a concert of her favourite band.

So instead of focusing a lot of negative energy on what other people are doing, feeling jealous or envious or like she's missing out, she's decided to focus on what she wants to do to achieve something that she wants.

So she's gonna get her own summer job and she's gonna use the money from that job to do something that she wants to, so she's focusing on personal growth.

Everyone online has some kind of online persona and they only show the side of their personality and their life that they want to.

Not everything is as it seems on social media, so it's important to try not to compare your life to others.

The things people post online might be carefully curated, they might only show sides of their personality that they want to.

Lots of people on social media feel pressure to appear perfect, make their lifestyles look really happy and fulfilling, and it's important to remember that this is not always the case, so we try not to compare our life to others.

Remember, your worth and your value is not found in likes, follows, or interactions online.

Andeep is giving us a great piece of advice here.

He says, "Social media is not real life.

And no matter how many friends, likes, or followers you have online, you are still important and valuable in real life." That is a lovely piece of advice from Andeep there.

If social media is starting to negatively impact your self-esteem or self-confidence, you should seek help from a trusted adult.

You could also choose to spend time with friends and family in person that make you feel more confident and boost how you feel about yourself and your abilities, rather than spending that time online.

Now we're gonna check our understanding.

True or false? Focusing on personal growth rather than other people's achievements can help us to feel more secure online.

So I want you to pause the video, have a think about that statement, and then we'll go through the correct answer together.

Well done if you said true.

Absolutely, focusing on our own personal growth rather than comparing ourselves to others can help us feel much more secure in the time that we spend online.

And finally, we are gonna put our learning into practise.

So Chloe is feeling insecure about herself after looking at social media.

I'd like for you to give her three pieces of advice about feeling more secure on social media.

So she says, "Seeing other people's lives online makes me worried that I'm not good enough.

I feel jealous and insecure of what other people have and of all the friends that they have online." So pause the video, write down those three pieces of advice, and then we'll go through what you might have written together.

Excellent work there.

So you were asked to give Chloe three pieces of advice about looking after herself on social media.

You might have said that it's important to set boundaries for your time on social media, to limit your exposure to content that impacts your self-confidence.

You might have said to focus on meaningful friendships and relationships online and offline.

That she should focus on personal growth instead of jealousy so that she can achieve some of her own personal goals.

You might have told her to remind herself that not everything that she sees on social media is reality and that she should practise gratitude for what she has.

Well done if you mentioned any of those things in your answer.

Now we are gonna finish today's lesson with a summary of what we've learned.

So people can often post things online that show their lives in an exaggerated way.

They may develop an online persona that makes their lifestyle appear more lavish or exciting than it really is.

This may make us feel jealous and tempted to compare our life to theirs.

However, remember that social media is not a true reflection of reality, and your self-esteem and self-confidence should not be defined by online interactions.

In order to feel more secure on social media, follow accounts that promote positive feelings and focus on your own personal achievements and mindfully reduce your screen time.

Now, if any of the topics covered in today's lesson affect you in any way or you have any concerns, hear are some places you can go to get support.

Childline, a website and phone line which is able to offer confidential advice and support.

CEOP, which helps protect children from online abuse and exploitation.

And finally, Internet Matters, which teaches children and parents how to stay safe and happy online while using the internet.

And I would like to end by saying a huge well done for all of your fantastic work that you've done in today's lesson, and I really look forward to seeing you in another RSHE lesson soon.