MASK The Magazine – Summer 2022
English | 78 pages | pdf | 53.21 MB
MASK (Mothers Awareness on School-age Kids) is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization created in 2007 by a group of dedicated mothers who recognized the need to consistently educate families on rapidly-changing issues. The MASK mission is to engage and educate parents, children and the community about the issues facing youth and to empower children to make safe, healthy choices.
MASK helps children learn invaluable life skills for how to cope with a number of issues including responding to peer pressure, dealing with trauma and technology-related challenges. In today’s viral and social media world, coping skills are more necessary than ever. MASK equips students to feel confident regulating their emotions, maintaining frustration tolerance and setting healthy boundaries.
MASK has served the community for over a decade, with the goal of strengthening parent-child bonds and empowering children to make decisions from a place of knowledge and confidence which will prepare them to thrive.
MASK fulfills its mission by engaging, educating and empowering families through the MASK E3 Institute, MASK The Magazine, an informative website, the MASKMatters App, and the MASK Live Segments. Lean on MASK for every age and every stage. Check out the resources below to stay connected and informed.
Who do your children look up to? Who is it that they compare themselves to as they try to figure out their place in this world? Their worth?
Not so long ago, the answer to all those questions might have been you or their siblings or friends. But chances are, the people your children aspire to grow up to be like are people they’ve never met. Influencers. People who are paid to project a well-curated image and lifestyle through reels and stories. The world our children are growing up in is one centered around likes, luxury and unrealistic expectations.
As the digital world continues to blur the boundaries of everyday life, we, as a society, are falling short in providing environments that bolster and fortify children’s developing sense of self. When kids are inundated with images of lifestyles that only exist on Instagram, they are basing their self-esteem on a fantasy that they, nor anyone else, can truly never live up to.
How do we, as parents, compete with this constantly evolving intrusiveness?
Balance. Boundaries. Belief.
Technology isn’t a phase, and since it’s not going anywhere, it’s up to us to teach our children how to create balance and set boundaries around its use. Setting boundaries around technology and having an open dialogue with our children about what they’re viewing online is vital to helping them maintain a healthy relationship with the online world and helping them decipher what is real and what is not.
Perhaps our most important responsibility on and offline, as parents, is arming our children with an unshakeable belief in themselves. We must model healthy self-esteem ourselves and provide them with the experiences they need to internalize their value. Those experiences can be as simple as volunteering, being a good friend, helping around the house or neighborhood and encouraging them to make age-appropriate choices about their lives. Giving kids the opportunity to build confidence through real-world experiences will help prepare them to be capable adults and fortify their internal sense of self-worth, one that doesn’t need followers to feel fulfilled.
Kimberly Cabral
Founder/Publisher
MASK
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