How Social Media Shapes the Worldview of Young People

"When I was fourteen, I had just placed my Barbies in my little sister’s room because I felt it was time to say goodbye to them."
That’s what I recently told a fourteen-year-old boy, who – without laughing – told me he felt like he had already failed in life.
Why?
Because he wasn’t a millionaire yet. According to him, he should have already been “making moves” at his age.
Let that sink in for a moment.

What kind of world are we living in today?

The pressure young people experience nowadays is immense. The constant stream of videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube makes them believe that success must come early, and fast. They see peers or influencers pretending to be peers—stepping into luxury cars, flashing cash, working from Bali on a laptop, or starting their own companies at thirteen.
What they don’t see is what’s left out of the frame: the debt, the exaggerated stories, the team behind a single “personal” account, or simply, the lie.

Social media has created an illusionary world. One where likes seem more important than self-love, where performing appears more valuable than having fun, and where failure doesn’t feel like an option.
Young people compare themselves to unrealistic examples and, as a result, place unbearable pressure on themselves.
The consequences?
Burnouts at a young age, depression, identity crises, suicidal thoughts… or turning to crime, because fast money starts to feel like the only way to be seen.

We've forgotten that adolescence is supposed to be a time of discovery, of trial and error—not of Excel sheets, business plans, or millionaire anxiety.

That’s why it’s time for a dose of perspective. For real conversations. For reality.

At Media at School, we help young people develop a critical eye toward what they see online. Through playful and interactive methods, they experience how media is made—by creating it themselves.
They learn how image-building works, how storytelling is used to impress, and how important it is to look beyond the screen.

We teach youth not just to consume media, but to create it.
Because once you’re the one behind the camera, writing the scripts, or editing the videos, you start to understand how many choices are made to create a certain image.
That opens eyes. And brings relief.

Our goal is not to keep young people away from social media—that’s not realistic. But we do want to equip them with awareness, so they can stand strong in this digital world.
So they understand that their worth is not in numbers, followers, or likes—but in who they are, with all their insecurities, growth, and strength.

Let’s build a generation together, one that isn’t led by algorithms, but learns to live for themselves.

Laat me weten of je het voor iets specifieks nodig hebt, dan kan ik het eventueel nog finetunen!

Adolescense - Time for a new conversation

Something is happening in our society. We seem to be increasingly opposed to one another — men vs. women, women vs. men. And it's not just offline; it’s definitely happening online too. On social media, opinions quickly become black and white, algorithms overpower nuance, and an image of each other is formed that often has little to do with reality. Respect sometimes seems hard to find.

With the series Adolescense, we want to go back to the basics: understanding each other. Because it’s not about being better than the other, but about being able to exist together. I’ve had moments where I wondered whether feminism may have taken a wrong turn. As if it became a competition, rather than a search for equality, one where both can remain in their natural energy.

As if being angry at men is the only way to be heard. But we need each other. Precisely because we are different. Differences don’t have to divide us, they can complement us.

When I worked in the music scene, I saw how young men in the studio could express their emotions. Between the beats and the lyrics, real, raw, and vulnerable conversations would sometimes emerge. The studio almost became a kind of therapy space. And that says something.

There has been a lot of attention on the development of women — and rightly so. But what about the new man? What does it mean to be a man today?

Adolescense shows how an ideal of toughness can be passed down from generation to generation, and how it can harden into something destructive, even into misogyny. But we also need to make sure that feminism doesn’t become hatred towards men. We need conversations. Real conversations. About expectations, roles, freedom, emotions — and how we can grow alongside each other, instead of staying opposed.

Online safety starts with awareness

I’m seeing more and more worrying stories about how children and teenagers use social media. And those concerns are valid. Because no matter how well you try to protect your child in the offline world, online the boundaries are often invisible.

At the same time, it’s unrealistic to keep children completely offline. That would exclude them from the world their peers are actively part of. As long as there are no firm regulations from big tech companies or the government, we need to focus on something else: self-reliance.

But that’s not easy. Because children often don’t yet understand the long-term consequences of their online behavior — their brains simply aren’t developed enough for that. They think in the now, not in the later. And that makes it all the more important not to control them, but to teach them how things work.

That’s why, with Media At School, we give lessons focused on media awareness. Not by scaring them, but by encouraging them to think for themselves — and to create media themselves. Because once you understand how something is made, you start to see it differently.

When I worked in the media industry myself, I learned to see through every production. I could see exactly how something was built, directed, and edited. I wish that kind of insight for every child. Because only when you understand how something works, can you truly look at it critically.

Awareness is the first step toward protection.