Building Self Esteem In Children

The only way for children to succeed is by building up one's self esteem. Those who have this will be able to achieve a certain ambition later on in life, which is something that could only happen with the support of parents and the teachers that molded the child.

The first signs of this begin the moment the infant is born. It is the smile that the parents have after seeing the child for the first time, the first words ever spoken, the time the infant is able to stand and walk without any help.

Parents may not know it but even during this stage, the child understands the acknowledgement being given usually that could be through words or signs of affection. So, one of the most effective ways of building self esteem is by constantly praising the children.

Some experts believe there is a danger when the parent does this often. There are two reasons.

First, the child will get used to the attention being given after something has been done. Parents are just two of the billions of people on the planet and the person will soon figure out that the words of praise being does not mean that much to the rest of society.

Second, the young ones are not always correct. Some bad things will be done and unless parents do something about it, the child will not be able to know the difference between right and wrong.

Part of building that self esteem then should also have constructive criticism. This means talking to the child and explaining the things that were right and where it went wrong. There are always different ways to approach a certain challenge and looking back, perhaps there was a better way to do it.

There must also be a balance here because although the parent has good intentions in criticizing each move, this can further diminish the one's self confidence as the child feels attacked again and again.

Parents do both not to create the child into one's likeness as God did when man was developed but simply helping the person become a productive member of society that has rules and laws that everyone has to live by.

The third way to help build self esteem in children is in the parents. The actions being shown by the mom or dad also play a part in the child's development. Those who curse often will be surprised one day that the child will do the same.

Although watching movies and television have a role in making this happen, parents are there 24 hours a day 7 times a week which is a lot more time than a one or two hour show can ever do to a child.

Parents have to be the ones to set an example. If either mom or dad did not have strong sense of self worth as a child, the kids should not suffer the same fate. These people are aware of the mistakes before and will rather correct or prevent this from happening so this won't happen to the next generation.

It is never easy to bring out the best in a child. There will be trials ahead and those who succeed can be proud seeing the son or daughter graduate from high school or college and instill the same qualities when these people will also have children.