Healthy self-esteem is important for the growth and development of a child. Self-esteem needs to be imparted in a child at an early age by enhancing social interaction skills. Most people who suffer issues of self-esteem may have hard experiences in their childhood that made them less confident especially when they encountered new people. From the time a child is born, they get to meet new people through their different stages of life. The guidance they receive from the people around them will determine how well they will manage interactions at different stages. Building healthy self-esteem comes by making children to know and understand their worth. Even before children can know how to talk or express themselves, they have the ability to observe and pick signals depending on how they are treated (Desrochers, 2004). The treatment may create either fear or courage within them and hence affecting their self-esteem.
Just like Simone, most self-esteem issues in children are identified once they start school. They realize the deficiency they had in terms of receiving assurance and hence craving from it from adults. Such children lack confidence in all they do and feel inadequate. To build healthy self-esteem, children need to be complimented whenever they accomplish certain tasks. Parents should not always be keen to scold their children whenever they make mistakes without first complimenting them for their attempts (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008). Children whose parents only see their mistakes in their attempts make them feel like they cannot attempt or accomplish anything. Such an attitude is likely to make them never attempt new challenges with the assurance that it will not be appreciated. Such children are likely to be withdrawn when they meet others or when forced to accomplish tasks, they do it with the fear that they will not do them perfectly.
Reference list
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2008). Facts for families: Children and divorce [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts for Families&name=Children and Divorce
Desrochers, J. E. (2004). Divorce: A parents' guide for supporting children. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/parenting/divorce_ho.aspx
How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praisehttp://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
