DEVELOPPING YOUR CHILD’S SELF ESTEEM

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF ESTEEM IN YOUR CHILD’S DEVELOPPEMENT:

Developing self esteem during childhood is very crucial. This is because it could affect your child in every stage of his development.

How he sees himself will definitely affect his future relationships, career development, confidence, prosperity and even happiness.

Studies have shown that one of the traits happy people share, is having a positive self image of themselves. This means that as a parent, you have a responsibility to help your child to have a healthy self image of himself.

HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR CHILD’S SELF ESTEEM:

There are several ways to do this. Below are few tips to help you develop your child’s self esteem:

1-    DON’T COMPARE YOUR CHILD TO OTHER CHILDREN!

Want to ruin your child’s life? Then compare him to other children! Unfortunately, comparisons are very much a part of our culture particularly our schooling system. One of the ways a child gets compared to other children is through peer pressure.

Every child knows that there is tremendous pressure from other children, particularly from the ones in school to conform to the ways of a certain group. That’s why in a school you can see several cliques on these groups can be identified with different labels. There are the jocks, the jerks, the nerds or geeks, the addict, the slut etc. These groups are inherently not bad but sometimes a group’s identity precedes the individual’s identity, which could lead into a loss in identity and self esteem.

To most parents these are just groups but for a young innocent child, the cliques are their world.

Listen to your child when he talks about how he feels about school and the group he wants to be in. Be ready to do what’s needed to find the right fit.

2-    ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD:

Always use positive and encouraging words when you talk to your kid. If your kid does something good, praise him for it. There is nothing more discouraging than the feeling of not being appreciated for the things that you’ve done.

Praising and encouraging children provides them with a positive self image of themselves. For them, it means that they are important enough for you to notice and recognize their achievements in life.

 By constantly giving kind encouraging words to your children, you can ensure that they will grow healthy psychologically.

3-    TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE:

    As a parent, you should always do your best to participate in your child’s life. Go to after school activities! Watch your kid’s performances! A child who sees his parents don’t care about something will wonder why he should care, and why his parents don’t care about him like other kids parents do.

4-    CREATE MANTRAS:

Create mantras that a child can remember easily.

 Each morning, start by saying the mantra to your child, and have him repeat it back to you so that it becomes his mantra. They don’t have to be statements about yourself; they could be about each other, such as, ‘I love you’ or a compliment.

The mantras can vary, as long as the essence is on ‘affirming oneself’.

5-    SUPPORT HEALTHY RISKS:

Encourage your child to explore something new, such as trying a different food, starting a new hobby or activity… Though there’s always the possibility of failure, without risk there’s little opportunity for success. So let your child safely experiment and resist the urge for intervene. You will build his self esteem by balancing your need to protect him with his need to tackle new tasks.

6-    TEACH LIMITS:

Establish a few reasonable rules for your child. For instance, if you tell him that he has to eat his snack in the kitchen, don’t let him wander around the living room with his crackers and fruit next day. Knowing that certain family rules are set in stone will help him feel more secure. It may take constant repetition on your part, but he’ll start to live by your expectations soon enough. Just be clear and consistent.

7-    GIVE LOVE:

Give your kid plenty of cuddles, kisses and pats on the shoulder. And don’t forget to tell him how much you love him. When you have to correct your child, make it clear that it is his behavior –not him- that’s unacceptable. For instance, instead of saying: ‘You’re a naughty boy! Why can’t you be good?’, say ‘Pushing Michael isn’t nice, it can hurt. Please don’t push’.

Parents are very powerful figures in the life of any child. First of all, they are responsible for conceiving the child and for bringing that child into this world so everything that comes after there will still be held somewhat responsible.

The mother, best of all, has a special emotional connection with her children while the father is mostly the one who deals with the practical things in raising his children.

A perfect relationship between the parents and their children will be when the parents are role models of providing love and support within the family while the children are obedient but to a certain degree also independent in living their lives. In this world however, there is no such thing as perfect but this should not stop us from trying to build an ideal relationship.

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Also check out ‘Understanding Self  Esteem’  and   ‘How to Build Healthy High Self Esteem in 11 Easy Ways’ to have a better idea about self esttem.

 

Thank you!