Program tells social media to take a hike
A WAITLIST for a 12-week program helping Gold Coast teenage girls shake their mobile phone and social media addiction is booked out until 2022, with parents falling over themselves to help their daughters.
Hiking Heights Hike is the brainchild of 32-year-old Tahnee Dickens, who says the course is so successful she’s hoping business sponsors will get involved so she can grow the initiative and help more girls.
“I think society has a responsibility to help empower the younger generation with the tools to not only survive but thrive in a digital world, where young women have the gift of knowledge in the palm of their hands yet don’t have the tools to deal with it responsibly,” she said.
“It’s our job to guide them through this, because technology is not going anywhere and they are suffering and need support. Parents also need help with managing their teenagers.”
Growing up in an age before smartphones were commonplace at schools, Ms Dickens said she was grateful to have avoided the extra pressure that came with social media and phones. She said the Gold Coast was a “breeding ground” for influencers and it was affecting females in terms of insecurities and self-esteem, with many fixated on image-based values.
“When you go to Burleigh beach there’s 14-year-olds doing photo shoots in bikinis thinking it’s the norm,” said the Gold Coaster who’s halfway into a psychology degree.
“Comparison and photo filters are so damaging to young girls’ self-esteem and sense of worth. The battle for a teenager these days is inside their head and just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
To help break the cycle,
Ms Dickens runs a 12-week course on consecutive Saturdays based on the three pillars of gratitude, connection and resilience.
It entails six Saturdays of hiking in southeast Queensland, four days of volunteering for charities and community groups and two journal workshops.
Aimed at 14- to 17-yearolds, Ms Dickens said it took teenagers a while to accept her phone-free rule, with many not realising how addictive their phones were.
Run by volunteers in their
20s, 30s and 50s, the girls spend one day each helping a local, national, international and environment charity.
From making care packages for disadvantaged families to planting trees, the teens donate their time to helping others.
To help her grow the program so more at-risk girls can take part, Ms Dickens is looking for corporate sponsors and financial backers.
For details email hikingheartshigh@gmail.com, or visit