Students at US high school cover bathroom mirrors with paper
STUDENTS at an American high school have covered up the girls’ bathroom mirrors with large pieces of paper adorned with positive body image messages.
STUDENTS at an American high school have covered up the girls’ bathroom mirrors with large pieces of paper adorned with positive body image messages.
Girls at Trinity Academy, a private Christian school in Kansas, wrote messages and bible verses, like “People are like oreos ... the good stuff is on the inside” and “Mirrors are just glass. And you are more than that” on a giant piece of butcher’s paper.
“We were trying to think of ideas of how we could serve the underclassmen and make the most impact,” senior student Hannah Hancock told local news station KWCH12.
“Especially as freshmen and sophomores, you’re trying to find your identity and who you are and we want them to find their identity in God and in Christ and not in a mirror and not what their outward appearance looks like.”
Jordan Melugin, another senior at Trinity Academy, says positive body image messages are desperately needed.
“Everywhere you look you hear people talking about being body-shamed or hating their image,” she said.
“I think it’s easy to forget when you are just caught up in everyday life so I think whenever you look up and expect to see yourself and you see something positive like, you are made in God’s image.”
While the covers will eventually be removed, Jordan hopes they will have a long-lasting effect.
“I really hope that people will see this and see that there are girls out there who are encouraging other girls to just be who they are,” said Jordan. “So I just hope that it continues growing on that.”
The school praised the student initiative in a post on its Facebook page. “We love what the Trinity girls did to the bathroom mirrors this week!” it read.
While from the outset this looks like a positive step, a tipster whose siblings attend the school told female news website Jezebel the bathroom makeover could be a way to further shame girls’ bodies.
“I get that it’s trying to be positive about the girls ... but it feels to me like they’re papering over the mirror because they can’t go all out and ask the girls to wear paper bags themselves,” the tipster wrote in an email.
“Believe me, I grew up in this culture, and being told ‘your beauty should not come from outward adornment!!!’ just sounds like MORE exhausting shaming and policing ... leaving that culture has given me significant mental health gains.”