Concern Grows For Young Girls Posting 'Am I Pretty?' Videos Online
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a disturbing online sight, repeated hundreds if not thousands of times: girls, young teens or even younger, posting videos of themselves on YouTube asking the public to tell them if they are pretty.
For a 12- or 13-year-old, image is everything. Many students at Haddonfield Middle School said they had seen these videos and found them troubling.
"Well, I feel really bad for the girls, that they have gotten to the point where they have to post videos," said seventh grader Annie Gosse. "They've probably been bullied at school about it. And I feel like it's really sad that they've gotten to that point, and they should get help before they do that."
Fellow student Megan Becerril said if one of her friends posted such a video, she would try to be supportive:
"I would tell her that she is beautiful, because everyone is beautiful in their own way."
"I think it's a tough age for self-esteem," notes school counselor Danielle McKelvey. "It's so important for kids of this age to know what everyone else is thinking. And what we want to do is try to build them up so they feel good about themselves and not open it up to something that could be so seemingly negative."
McKelvey hopes the posts spark conversation between parents and children about this and other important issues.
