Speech Flashcards
Imagine sitting in your room scrolling through your phone looking at picture after
picture of people you know out at parties or the beach and having the most amazing
social lives but somehow also managing to balance school, sport and homework.
Then you look around your room. Homework is piled up on your desk, your room is
messy and you can’t remember the last time you went out, or lead a life even
remotely like the ones you see your friends posting about online. You can’t help but
feel like their lives are perfect, and yours isn’t.
T eens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day social media. We scroll through endless
videos, stories and reels all showing us perfect bodies, perfect lives, and perfect
moments. We’re constantly bombarded with perfect images, making it impossible not
to compare ourselves. 62% of teenagers feel intense pressure to look perfect online,
and this pressure leads to anxiety, stress, and burnout. But the truth is, perfection is
an illusion. So, if perfection doesn’t exist, why are we still chasing it?
Social Media is the main driving effect. Every day, we’re trapped in an endless loop
of scrolling. Swipe after swipe, post after post, we’re drowning in a sea of perfection.
Over 95 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day, each one carefully
edited to put it in the best light possible. The constant flood of images creates an
illusion—an illusion that success, beauty, and happiness can only be achieved by
fitting into a narrow mould. A study in the Psychological Bulletin found that
perfectionism among young people has increased by 33% over the past 30 years.
This pressure to be perfect isn’t just harming our confidence; it’s damaging our
mental health.
T eens today aren’t just overwhelmed by social media—they’re also crushed by the
relentless pressure to succeed in school. 77% of students in the UK report feeling
stress and anxiety due to academic pressure. We’re told that our entire future
depends on grades. This isn’t just stress—it’s suffocating, and soul-crushing. We’re
constantly pushed to “work harder, try harder, be better”—but the weight of
expectation is driving too many students to breaking point.
Perfectionism has been directly linked to severe mental health issues, studies are
showing suicide rates among perfectionists are shockingly high, with experts
estimating that 30% of people who die by suicide exhibit traits of extreme
perfectionism.The number of young people experiencing anxiety has doubled in the
last decade, and perfectionism is a huge part of the problem. It’s not just taking away
our happiness—it’s taking away our lives. We’re crumbling under the weight of
unrealistic expectations, and the mental health crisis this is causing cannot be
ignored any longer.
Social media, academic pressure, and society’s impossible standards are crushing
us, stripping away our self-worth and damaging our mental health. But here’s the
truth: perfection doesn’t exist. The pursuit of it is a losing battle, and the cost is
simply too high. We don’t need to be flawless—we need to be human. We need to
embrace mistakes, imperfections, and the things that make us real, because that’s
where true growth and happiness lie. It’s time to challenge the unrealistic
expectations society places on us. It’s time to stop measuring our worth in likes,
grades, and superficial achievements. Most importantly, it’s time to prioritise our
mental health over a pursuit that will never bring us the fulfilment we’re searching for.
So, next time you’re in your room, scrolling on your phone at pictures of your friends
leading ‘perfect’ lives, change your mindset and your perception of what ‘perfect’ is.
Break free from the chains of perfectionism. Instead of striving to be perfect, let’s
strive to be our best, authentic selves—because that’s more than enough
Imagine sitting in your room scrolling through your phone looking at picture after
picture of people you know out at parties or the beach and having the most amazing
social lives but somehow also managing to balance school, sport and homework.
Then you look around your room. Homework is piled up on your desk, your room is
messy and you can’t remember the last time you went out, or lead a life even
remotely like the ones you see your friends posting about online. You can’t help but
feel like their lives are perfect, and yours isn’t.
T eens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day social media. We scroll through endless
videos, stories and reels all showing us perfect bodies, perfect lives, and perfect
moments. We’re constantly bombarded with perfect images, making it impossible not
to compare ourselves. 62% of teenagers feel intense pressure to look perfect online,
and this pressure leads to anxiety, stress, and burnout. But the truth is, perfection is
an illusion. So, if perfection doesn’t exist, why are we still chasing it?
Social Media is the main driving effect. Every day, we’re trapped in an endless loop
of scrolling. Swipe after swipe, post after post, we’re drowning in a sea of perfection.
Over 95 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day, each one carefully
edited to put it in the best light possible. The constant flood of images creates an
illusion—an illusion that success, beauty, and happiness can only be achieved by
fitting into a narrow mould. A study in the Psychological Bulletin found that
perfectionism among young people has increased by 33% over the past 30 years.
This pressure to be perfect isn’t just harming our confidence; it’s damaging our
mental health.
T eens today aren’t just overwhelmed by social media—they’re also crushed by the
relentless pressure to succeed in school. 77% of students in the UK report feeling
stress and anxiety due to academic pressure. We’re told that our entire future
depends on grades. This isn’t just stress—it’s suffocating, and soul-crushing. We’re
constantly pushed to “work harder, try harder, be better”—but the weight of
expectation is driving too many students to breaking point.
Perfectionism has been directly linked to severe mental health issues, studies are
showing suicide rates among perfectionists are shockingly high, with experts
estimating that 30% of people who die by suicide exhibit traits of extreme
perfectionism.The number of young people experiencing anxiety has doubled in the
last decade, and perfectionism is a huge part of the problem. It’s not just taking away
our happiness—it’s taking away our lives. We’re crumbling under the weight of
unrealistic expectations, and the mental health crisis this is causing cannot be
ignored any longer.
Social media, academic pressure, and society’s impossible standards are crushing
us, stripping away our self-worth and damaging our mental health. But here’s the
truth: perfection doesn’t exist. The pursuit of it is a losing battle, and the cost is
simply too high. We don’t need to be flawless—we need to be human. We need to
embrace mistakes, imperfections, and the things that make us real, because that’s
where true growth and happiness lie. It’s time to challenge the unrealistic
expectations society places on us. It’s time to stop measuring our worth in likes,
grades, and superficial achievements. Most importantly, it’s time to prioritise our
mental health over a pursuit that will never bring us the fulfilment we’re searching for.
So, next time you’re in your room, scrolling on your phone at pictures of your friends
leading ‘perfect’ lives, change your mindset and your perception of what ‘perfect’ is.
Break free from the chains of perfectionism. Instead of striving to be perfect, let’s
strive to be our best, authentic selves—because that’s more than enough
