The Role of a Lifetime on ABC and ABC iview S1E3 – When we meet the Malik family in this episode, Jack decides he no longer wants to join Dad at Saturday Jujitsu class. He’d rather be off playing basketball with his mates.
In the real world, Kate Ritchie (Mum) meets educator, Bec Sparrow. Bec explains that there are two types of popularity: status popularity and likeable popularity. The former is not healthy. Parents need to steer their teens towards people who make them feel safe.
Then Kate joins a group of gender diverse people who found a lifeline online.
Next, we move on to influencers. After meeting Dr Hannah Jarman, who believes exposure to online influencers is affecting teenagers’ body image, Naz hits the gym to find out why more boys are feeling pressure to look buff.
Meanwhile, Kate meets Dr Jasmin Fardouly, who studies social media’s effect on body image. Kate answers questions about her own body image then, after scrolling social media pics, answers the same questions as before. Her scores plummet, and she is reduced to tears, as she reflects on the effect such images could have on her own daughter.
A second experiment – with teen girls editing their selfies to attract more likes on social media – exposes a dangerous narrowing of beauty ideals.
The rest of the episode deals with eating disorders. Dr Stephaine Damiano from Butterfly Foundation reveals the youngest caller to their helpline was a 6-year-old girl, while dietitian Alex Rodriguez shares his story of an adolescence plagued by severe eating disorders.
Production credit: Produced by Dreamchaser.
The Role of a Lifetime on ABC and ABC iview – Tuesday 4 March at 8.30pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
The Role of a Lifetime on ABC and ABC iview S1E3
