We will look at a wide variety of factors that influence self-esteem. Along with defining exactly what it is, we will look at why it is so important. We will also break it down and look at the various life stages that children go through and how self-esteem is important, and developed, during each of these stages. After you finish this article you be able to identify unhealthy self-esteem, as well as how to help build a healthy self-esteem in children.

The skills you learn are not only helpful in the home, but anywhere that you may be around children. But it doesn't stop there, because the same basic principle can be applied to adults as well. So if you, or other adults you know, could use a boost in self-esteem, you can adapt these skills to the adult level and apply them in order to help address the situation.

What is Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem may be something that we can't put our hands on, but it is certainly something we can see, as well as feel. While we don't feel it with our hand, we do feel it inside each and every one of us. For many people, defining self-esteem is a difficult thing to do. While that may be so, it is something that impacts all of us. We all have one, whether we can readily identify it or not, or whether or not we can put our finger on a definition of what it is.

Having said that, it is actually much easier to explain what self-esteem is than it may seem. Self-esteem involves each person and how they feel about themselves. It is not about big egos or being vain, but rather a sense of how you feel about who you are, and what you are capable of. Those who feel good about themselves have a healthy sense of self-esteem. Those who don't feel good about themselves are lacking in the area of self-esteem.

In the field of psychology, self-esteem is an important buzz word that is often used. That's because one's self-esteem plays such a significant role in people's lives. A healthy level of self-esteem is linked to a higher level of confidence, as well as self-respect. Having both of these will usually help people in life, because they will make better choices and be better able to handle many of life's challenges.

Why It's Important

So now you know what self-esteem is, but you may not realize yet why it is so important. A person's self-esteem will impact how they treat themselves, and how others treat them. It is how worthy we believe that we are. Those with high self-esteem will tend to treat themselves better than those with low self-esteem. And when you treat yourself better, you end up helping to improve self-esteem, so it's a continuous circular situation.

For adults, this is easier to identify and understand, so they can make active choices that will lead to improving or guarding their self-esteem level. But when it comes to children, they don't yet understand what self-esteem is, or how to build it, making it important that the adults around them make it a high priority.

When people lack self-esteem it can lead to a host of problems. Children who lack a good sense of self-esteem may lack such things as:

• A sense of independence

• Being able to adequately express their emotions

• Assuming responsibility for their actions

• Positive social involvement

• Difficulty accepting compliments from others

• Expecting very little out of one's self or out of life

• Being able to trust one's opinions

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• Not being able to properly handle peer pressure

• Healthy relationships with others

Additionally, researchers have found that those with low self-esteem are more prone to developing such things as eating disorders, as well as a range of mental health issues, such as depression.

When it comes to the self-esteem of children, parents play the biggest role in helping to develop it. However, many parents may have difficulty helping their children to have a healthy self-esteem, simply because they may lack it themselves, or they may not know what it is that they need to do in order to help their child develop it.

There are many factors that can contribute to low self-esteem in children. Not all children experience the same things that lead to low self-esteem, so it is important to keep an open mind when you see child who is lacking in the self-esteem department. Many children with low self-esteem don't like the way they look, while others may not care for the way they act, or a combination of the two. Some children may have low self-esteem because they have a poor body image, or because they are taller than other children their age. Other children may have low self-esteem because of abuse in the home. Most children who suffer some sort of abuse in the home will have low self-esteem. This abuse may be in the form of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or even verbal abuse, where the child is told they are worthless or not capable of doing things.

When children live in an atmosphere where they are consistently criticized, abused, or berated, they will most likely grow up to feel they have very little self worth, thus leading them to have low self-esteem and a poor self-image. But it's even more than what takes place at home. A poor self-esteem can also be influenced by what goes on in school, or other activities that children engage in.

If children routinely perform poorly at school they may develop a sense of low self-worth because of their inability to do well. The same holds true for those children who may be repeatedly ridiculed, teased, or bullied at school. Whether it is in the classroom, the lunch room, or in playing sports, if there is consistent negative teasing or ridiculing, it will usually give children a negative self-esteem. Even if their parents are working hard to help instill a healthy self-esteem and they encounter consistent negativity at school, it can become a problem that leads to low self-esteem. This is because children often place a high value on what their peers say or believe and they want to please and fit in with them.

Self-esteem is such an important issue in regard to children, because that is where the foundation for it begins. How a child learns to see, or value, himself or herself as a child will lay the foundation for the way they feel as an adult. It's really during childhood when the stage is set for someone's self-esteem. If you can help a child have a strong foundation for self-esteem, it is something that will likely last them a lifetime.