Introduction: Teenagers are very familiar with issues of self-consciousness. Girls especially are prone to self-loathing and tend to be uncomfortable with their body image. Becoming a teenager also involves social pressure to fit into predefined molds that can be very limiting. Discussing these issues can be difficult. Try introducing the topic by sharing this poem.
Perfect
by Kari Myers
Supermodel
Superway
Fix the mold
Don't break away
Perfect in the magazines
Perfect in your little dreams
Careful angel
Don't fall down
Fragile doll
Who's tied and bound
Perfect when you are 17
Perfect, so it seems
Plastic smile
Glossy eyes
No emotions, nothing to hide
Perfect in this scene
Perfect as your parents' beam
Honeysuckle
Babydoll
With your picture on my wall
You are everything I hate to see
You are everything I want to be
Karen, Tom and Kiki, eds. Matt Frost, illus. 2001. Planet Kiki's angst! teen verses from the edge. New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
Extension: Discuss the different ways students feel pressured to be "perfect." Turn this into an art project by asking teens to illustrate their anxiety. Use old magazines to create collages that represent the various conflicting emotions they experience. Then ask them to add on to that collage things that make them feel happy. This final step is an effort to recognize that there will always be pressure to be something else in life and what is truly important is inner peace.
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