4.1 Text: Dear Susie (the longer text)

Dear Susie

I wonder if my use of social media is under control anymore . It ? s super important to me to be popular online and there are times I post five to ten times a day . My photos are never just snapshots and ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ I use ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ filter . Sometimes I take hundreds of shots before I get one that I ? m personally ____________________ ____________________ .

Like yesterday morning I wanted to take one of those ? this is how I look when I wake up ? photos , you know , where you ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ? I got up at five in the morning , took a shower , washed my hair , ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ on my nude makeup and another half to get my hair just right . Then I climbed back in bed and used another 45 minutes to get the shot I was ____________________ ____________________ ? all this ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ before seven o'clock .

And it ? s not just about looks . I also ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ checking how many likes my pictures get ____________________ ____________________ and it ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ if people don ? t like my photos . Sometimes I also get really ____________________ ____________________ about my pictures and there are times I ? m so upset I can ? t even go to school . Why can ? t people just like me for who I am ?

? Social Media Addic t

Dear Social Media Addict

I would say it ? s quite ____________________ ____________________ teenagers to ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ and how people think of them . ____________________ ____________________ ? s ____________________ ____________________ , you are not alone in this ! It is , however , a little ____________________ that you spend that much time on social media and caring about what other people think . In fact , I think it ? s actually part of the reason WHY you are feeling insecure about yourself .

How about you ____________________ yourself ____________________ ____________________ - ____________________ digital detox : no social media , no Internet . Put away your ____________________ ____________________ : your mobile , tablet and laptop . Cut yourself off cold turkey , and take the time and really get to know yourself . It won ? t be easy to ____________________ ____________________ , but I bet you will find a much more confident person in you than you could have imagined .

Dear Susie

Baffled . Confused . Mystified . Flabbergasted . I ? ll give you another list : bisexual , biphobia , transgender , non - binary , ____________________ ____________________ , gender fluid , cisgender , LGBTQ + . . . I ? ve heard these and many more terms ____________________ and I AM CONFUSED ! My mom says it ? s really simple , there are girls and boys , and that ? s that . But there is a girl in my class whose preferred pronouns are he / him / his . And there is another student in my school who says we can use she , he or they ? because they are non - binary . I mean , what does that mean ? I don ? t want to ____________________ ____________________ my mom , but I also see how ____________________ these students are , and I want to understand where this is coming from . And how can I possibly know how to ____________________ ____________________ someone who doesn ? t identify as their original ____________________ ? Can you help me , Susie ?

? Dazed and Confuse d

Dear Dazed and Confused

Firstly , I ____________________ your ____________________ - ____________________ ! Our understanding of gender has changed ____________________ in the past couple of ____________________ and I can see how that can be ____________________ . I think it is quite alright to just ask the person what their preferred pronouns are and take it from there . But you also have to understand that sometimes it is difficult for a person to talk about their ____________________ ____________________ . If they decide to invite you into their life and you accept that invitation , that is ____________________ . If they are not ready for that yet , the best thing you can do is to ____________________ that and them just as they are . What comes to your mom ? s differing opinion , give her the time and space she needs to process this in her own way . And if you want to learn more about ____________________ , there are wonderful resources online . You could also ask your teacher to give a lesson on gender identity and open a ____________________ with the rest of your class . I ? m sure you will find that you are not the only one asking these important questions .

Dear Susie

I have ____________________ with my skin . You guessed it , I have acne . Really , really bad acne . It ? s so bad that sometimes my whole face hurts . I can ? t sleep , I feel like I can ? t eat anything and ____________________ ____________________ , I don ? t want to be seen ____________________ ____________________ . You may think that ? s an overreaction but you have no idea how much I get bullied in school for this . I have used every kind of facial wash you can buy at the supermarket , tried all the pimple creams from the chemist ? s , been ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ? but nothing seems to help . I am absolutely gutted , what can I do ?

? Crawling in My Ski n

Dear Crawling in My Skin

I know this is probably not going to make you ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ but I ? ll say it anyway : almost 8 out of 10 teenagers have acne . ____________________ ____________________ , acne is so ____________________ that it is almost considered a natural part of puberty ? which also means that it will pass . In the meantime , I ____________________ you contact your family doctor to get a ____________________ to a dermatologist . They will be able to tell you if your condition can be helped medically . ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ , you will beat this !