Every parent wants their child to have a healthy sense of self-esteem. That is our ultimate goal. Low self-esteem can affect their success in school and life, and no parent wants that for their child. A student's social well-being depends largely upon his perception of his personal image and identity.
If we want our kids to become successful students, we need to teach them to deal with stress and overcome any self-image crises that may develop. Here are some simple steps we can to help our child to overcome self-image issues.
1. Do not compare them with their siblings or their peers.
As children develop a more complex picture of who they are, they start to compare themselves to others in terms of appearance, intelligence and physical abilities. As a result, children start to view themselves as more or less capable. They may feel insecure about their appearance and body image while comparing themselves to their peers.
They feel they must compete with others to measure up athletically, musically, scholastically or in popularity. When students are rejected from a group, they may feel stress from a deep sense of inadequacy that takes over their lives. Sometimes students may spend a great amount of time concentrating on others, hindering their own attempts to find out who they really are. You should never compare your children with their peers. Teach them that every person is a unique and should be proud of who they are.
2. Teach them to act as confident people.
William James, an American philosopher and psychologist, proposed the theory of self. If you want to be confident, act as confident person. You can control your self-image as long as you act on it. Eventually the image you are seeking becomes a reality. It's as simple as that.
Tell your children how you see them. Write it on a piece of paper and give them those observations. Let them sit alone and see if these observations are compatible with their self-image.
Then, they can take some simple steps to work on their self-esteem and enhance their personal image.
Here are some examples:
•Master one sport within your abilities.
•Volunteer for charity.
•Pursue an activity that brings out the best in you.
•Strengthen your skills in the areas that come easiest.
•Seek hobbies that can be carried on in your life beyond school -- like photography or painting.
3. Make them feel better about themselves.
If your child wears bulky glasses, help him to feel better about that. Tell him that he looks smarter because of his glasses and he looks like some cool programmer that will invent the next big thing.
They will think better and make better decisions if they have peace of mind.
4. Expose them to less media influence.
The media influences everyone on a daily basis. Students have very little influence on the media because it is controlled by adults. However, students get blamed for the way the media influences them. It's important to remember that we can choose our media influences.
These are some simple steps to make sure your child is receiving positive media influences.
•Be aware of the types of media your child is watching.
•Let them watch movies that make them feel good.
•Help them with learning the art of critical thinking. They can use this skill to see the motivation behind some kinds of media.
Parents can play an important role in strengthening a child's self-esteem by treating them respectfully, taking their views and opinions seriously and expressing appreciation to them. Follow these simple things and you will truly help your child (but yourself too) overcome self-image crisis.
Follow Mehdi Toozhy at https://www.facebook.com/mehditoozhy. More of his insights can be found at http://mehditoozhy.com/blog/.