Nurturing Childrens’ Self-Esteem

“Does my child have self esteem problems? Why is my child not able to do these things while other children are easily able to?” If these questions are popping up in your mind, it is time to do a quick check of how to provide a loving environment for your children.

Self Esteem is part of the image we carry about ourselves.  How we perceive ourselves has a lot to do with the way we interact with society and vice-versa.  A healthy level of self esteem is the foundation of success.  Good self image/esteem helps create strong bonds with family, friends and colleagues, while a bad self image is debilitating. Paying attention to this at an young age and taking appropriate action to steer children toward having a good self image is critical for them be successful and productive in the community.

Self esteem at a young age is created by the quality of interaction with family, teacher and friends circle.  Children nurtured in a supportive and loving atmosphere at home or at school have a healthy self image. Children are very naive and trusting.  When they are treated with harsh words and derogatory language, they start believing it, and take on the negative impressions. As the mind is notorious at playing back whatever it hears, and we become what we think, it is important they are exposed to the right inputs. As parents we need to stay cognizant about who the children interact with and keep them away from negative interactions as much as possible.

Below are some tips to ensure your children develop a healthy self image.

1) Create the right ambience at home.  Having a joyful, loving and nurturing atmosphere at home will allow their natural intelligence to blossom.

2) Know what your child needs. Each child is unique. Provide them what they need to blossom.

3)  Allow them to be without giving too many instructions. Having too many rules stifles their emotional and psychological growth.

4) Don’t rush them into growing up.  Children look at everything in an unadulterated fashion. Give them space for spontaneity, wonderment and exploration.  After all they have one chance at being children. So it is important that we as parents do not ruin it.

5) Create a strong bond based on friendship and playfulness rather than an authoritative one.

6) Nurture their natural spirituality. Children are closer to how nature intended for us to be. So it is important we do not disturb it.  Expose them to nature as much as possible and keep them away from electronics while young.

7) Be sincere about your feelings. Children are perceptive and will detect insincere complements and endearments.

8) Avoid drawing comparison with other children. Let them know no one is perfect.

If parents are genuinely interested in giving the child a good upbringing, so that they grow into loving and confident adults, parents should first transform themselves into peaceful and loving human beings.