‘I’LL ALWAYS BOOST THEIR CONFIDENCE SO THEY DON’T FEEL INSECURE’
Julia Champion, 53, is mum to Rosie, 16, and Bella, 13. They live in south London. Watching my daughter glued to her phone, I peered over her shoulder to see what she was up to. Posting selfies, again.
Smiling into the camera, Rosie, 16, struck another pose. I didn’t blame her, with her shoulder length light brown hair and deep brown eyes, she was absolutely gorgeous. But before she posted the picture, at the touch of a button, her hair grew longer and had a shimmering glow, her eyelashes extended and her skin became iridescent. And while I didn’t disagree that the girl in the picture looked stunning, it didn’t look like my Rosie.
I told Rosie she was perfect the way she was, but she shrugged off my concerns and told me it was what everyone was doing these days. Even her little sister, Bella, 13, loved adding freckles to her face with photo filters, telling me it looked funny and cute.
As my two girls lip-synced and danced to songs, posting clips on Tiktok, they’d add bunny ears and butterflies fluttering around them. But it seemed playful and harmless, so I didn’t mind.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enhance my own looks. While I don’t use photo filters on my phone, I do get my nails done once a month and always wear make-up. I don’t even mind letting the girls have their nails done as a treat at Christmas or during the school holidays. But I draw the line when it comes to cosmetic surgery, and if my daughters told me they wanted lip fillers or a boob job, there’s no way I’d let them.
I try to bring them up by instilling a sense of self-worth and I’m constantly telling them how naturally beautiful they are. And while teenage girls will always have an element of vanity, by boosting their confidence I hope to combat any feelings of insecurity that might creep in.
The girls hate me taking pictures of them as they don’t trust me to take a good shot and they think any pictures that I post of them are embarrassing. But that’s not to say they don’t appreciate their natural beauty.
In July 2022, I took Rosie for a photo shoot with a professional photographer after she’d completed her GCSES. The pictures were all taken in natural light, with minimal make-up and no touch-ups, and we both absolutely loved them. It was just a bit of fun, but it’s given her the confidence to pursue modelling and now I’m hoping to get her an agent.
Photo filters can be a dangerous trend for young people if they are unhappy with their body image, so we need to help our teens accept themselves. If they can perceive themselves to be beautiful as they are, then I don’t think they are a problem.
‘Filters can be dangerous’