The rise of social media, for all the good it has done, has also brought
with it its fair share of issues. In the age of oversharing, children
and young adults are facing mounting pressures, struggling against the
rise of anxiety, body image issues, and the cowardly act of
cyber-bullying. In an effort to counteract this damaging trend, a new
initiative designed to help children cope with the mounting pressures of
growing up in the digital age officially launched in a ceremony held in
Nottinghamshire this past Friday.
Freedom Factory, founded by Stacey Green and Laura Grant, aims to utilise music in the battle against the detrimental aspects of the social media generation. They idea arose after the pair became increasingly aware of just how much pressure social media sites can place on children.
Freedom Factory, founded by Stacey Green and Laura Grant, aims to utilise music in the battle against the detrimental aspects of the social media generation. They idea arose after the pair became increasingly aware of just how much pressure social media sites can place on children.
![]() |
Laura Grant & Stacey Green, co-founders of Freedom Factory - Img: Nottingham Post |
Co-founder Stacey Green, who currently runs Freedom Dance
and Performance, said of the new initiative, “Between us we have three
daughters and two sons, and we've seen what they face with the acceleration of
social media and 'selfie' culture.
“Anxieties, disorders, bullying and depression are becoming
the norm as they and their friends spent hours online on apps like Instagram
and Snapchat.
“Social media is an influence unlike anything we've ever
seen before. It's left youngsters concerned about body image, wanting to be
accepted, yearning to be 'liked' and led to online bullying from sometimes
faceless trolls.”
Then pair hope that the services offered by Freedom Factory will help
those youngsters who attend to grow in confidence and appreciate their
own talents and virtues, rather than desperately seeking validation
online.
Laura Grant, the initiative's other co-founder who currently serves as
head of fundraising at domestic abuse charity Equation, said of the
initiative and its goals, “Any sort of art is a great environment for
people to
explore emotions and challenges through.
“I think, particularly with the impact of social media over
the past few years, that we've seen children and young people questioning
themselves, who they should be and how they should dress, constantly looking at
themselves and comparing themselves.
“It was something we really felt could enable children to
have a forum to challenge that and think it's okay to be different, you don't
have to be like anyone else.”
Eleven schools have signed up to Freedom Factory at the time of writing.
From September, Freedom Factory will run sessions at all registered
schools, training children in all aspects of the music industry in the
hope of granting them the confidence needed to rise above the negative
potential of the social media age.
Post a comment