About-Face equips teen girls* with knowledge and tools to question media messages and support their mental health. Then, they take action in their own ways to push back against messages that don’t serve them.
We have an official teen mental health crisis.
The U.S. Surgeon General, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association of Pediatrics have sounded the alarm on teens’ mental health, especially as it relates to social media, between 2021 and 2023.
This is especially affecting girls. Girls’ depressive symptoms increased by 50 percent from 2012 to 2015.
- Three times as many 12-to- 14-year-old girls committed suicide in 2015 as in 2007.
- Girls are more prone to overusing social media (and they use it at higher rates than boys).
- Girls are bullied 22 percent more often than boys are — much of which happens via text message and social media.**
**Source: iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What What That Means for the Rest of Us, by Jean M. Twenge, Simon & Schuster, 2017.
Media can be toxic.
From unrealistic beauty ideals to narrow stereotypes, girls receive dangerous and limiting messages from social media, TV, movies, and real-life events every day.
Learning how to deconstruct those messages and take their own forms of action to create change helps girls see and achieve their full potential.
We create change.
Our programs for teen girls range from our Education Into Action in-school programs to a weekend program, and our online resources for teens here on the site. We also support their adult advocates — parents, teachers, mentors, relatives, and group leaders — through adult-centered workshops as well as curriculum development and support.
Education
Teaching girls to think critically so they understand how mainstream culture affects their self-worth.
Education
Equipping teen girls with tools they need to question media messages every day.
Action
Inspiring girls to take action against harmful messages, in their own ways.
Action
By choosing issues that matter most to them, girls commit and reinforce the skills they learn.
Change
Becoming activists and leaders who change the world around them.
Change
Igniting inner, personal change that lasts a lifetime.
Girls benefit nationally.
- Girls* ages 13-18
- San Francisco Bay Area
- United States
- All backgrounds, ethnicities/races, income levels
Boys/young men/male-identified youth are included in our point-of-entry Education Into Action Workshops in their classrooms or other spaces.
We are high-impact.
About-Face has reached over 8,000 youth with our workshops. We also reached thousands more via our website and social media, giving them the tools they need to understand and push back against media that harms them.
The results of these programs have been truly awesome. With the support of our PhD-level evaluator using rigorous statistical methods to analyze the results, we have demonstrated a positive impact on:
- mental health
- leadership skills
- self-efficacy
Adults are teens’ key allies.
About-Face supports adult advocates in supporting their girls. We define adult advocates as any adult who supports girls’ mental health, leadership skill-building, and self-confidence/sense of agency — whether it be a parent, teacher, guardian, relative, mentor, or other community member. That’s why About-Face offers parent talks, teacher training, and online resources undergirding all the skill-building we do for girls.
* A note on the word “girls”: We define this word broadly. When we use this term, we mean “girls and those who identify as girls or who are non-binary”. We fully recognize and welcome trans* girls and teenagers who identify as girls or young women, or who are gender non-binary, gender fluid, or agender. We always treat all participants with respect and understanding, and will never exclude participants on the basis of their gender identity.