THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM IN YOUNG CHILDREN BY:TIFFANY KERBY

SELF- ESTEEM Is defined as the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as to how we feel about our self. Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is an attitude toward the self and is a judgment of oneself. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent", "I am worthy") and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. [1] 'The self- concept is what we think about the self; psychology personbeliefsemotionsdespair prideshame [1] SELF- WORTH the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect Self worth is multi-faceted. It is not just one thing. Children may feel good about one aspect of themselves and not good about another. Here are some examples of feelings children have that effect their self worth: &

 Is respecting the Child. To treat the child how you would want to be treated. To talk to them how you would want to be talked to (at that age). To act toward them how you would want someone to act toward you. THE FIRST STEP TO BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM

AFTER YOU GIVE THEM RESPECT YOU GAIN THEIR TRUST.  You gain their trust. Trust is very important to young children. It assures them of your character, ability, strength, or truth in which they feel that they have someone they can depend on to be there for them. Developing a sense of trust in the people who care for them is the first important stage of developing a sense of self in children. Adults who are warm and caring help children lay the foundation for a healthy self concept.

HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN You can’t talk to children any kind of way but you have to be cautious of what you say to them. I’ve learned that even in discipline the parent and or care giver have to be tactful in what they say to children. For example, I saw a little girl on the train standing on the seat dancing. Her mother said “sit down dummy before you fall”. It was a million ways to handle the situation but she handled it this way. In this instance the mother calling her child a dummy she is not helping her self- esteem but hurting it in the long run. The mother had a chance in that instance to give her daughter respect. Even though the little girl was out of order at the time, it is always a better way to discipline children. For instance, for this situation the mother with the same tone could have easily said sit down before you fall and hurt yourself. Or sit down it is not a good idea to dance on a train. A lot of people use negative things to teach children discipline but in saying negative things to them such as name calling and profanity we are only hurting them in the long run.

GIVE CHILDREN A SENSE OF PRIDE Children need something that will make them feel special and important. To make them feel as their accomplishments and achievements do matter. Parents and care givers should often tell children you are beautiful, that was great what you did, good job, now you’ve got it, I knew you could do it, way to go, you are incredible words like these give children a positive sense of self-esteem. In Erikson’s Developmental Stages it talks about the stage people go through in a life span from infancy until 65 or death. It talks about how children go through the trust and mistrust stage then it goes straight into autonomy vs. shame which basically deals with building self-esteem at age 18 months. I’ve learned that self-esteem starts at the first year of life and parents and care givers play a massive role in helping give children a sense of self.

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