From among the vast set of skills that we teach our children at a young age, maintaining a healthy self-esteem is by far the most important thing that youngsters can learn.

Mostly kids give in to peer pressure just because their confidence level is dwindling and their self-esteem is flat. This makes the teen susceptible to getting easily influenced by his/her peer group.

Also, teenagers are most likely to remain loyal to the group due to a fear of rejection or even being thrown out of the group. In any case, hanging around a group of unsympathetic teens could not do much good in improving the self-esteem of kids and would consequently destroy the confidence of youngsters.

Parents need to wake up to this reality and accept the fact that they have to inculcate self-esteem in their children to keep them afloat in the competitive world that has taken shape around us. This process has to start early in the kid’s life to help them wrap their mind around the concept that the things that you are teaching them are important to learn in real life.

First Things First

The first lesson for children about self-esteem and respect is this: you have to earn it because moral status and refined character wouldn’t just walk up to your door one day and embrace you just like that. In real life you have to persevere to learn these things.

To start with, praise your children only when they have done something worthwhile, otherwise refrain from burdening the young minds with unnecessary praise because it would destroy their self-esteem instead of building it.

Kids have the ability to somehow tell the difference between genuine praise and simple lip service. If kids think that the praise is genuine, they could develop their self-esteem on solid grounds in order to move forward.

YOLO

You only live once and you can’t basically live your entire life for the pleasure of others. Would anyone else sacrifice their independence for you? No they won’t, unless there’s this Shakespearean love going on between you and you-know-who.

Overcoming fear of rejection could prove difficult for kids but eventually they have to find happiness on their own. Kids should be allowed to live life according to their own terms and parents could help them in understanding that life is too short to be consumed by thoughts of facing rejection from a larger peer group.

Avoid Negative Influences

Negative people are better left alone because they make you feel bad about yourself and the beautiful world around you.

Obviously, kids should try to hang out more with people who have a positive aura about them. Confident people are known to spread confidence around them and this is why kids could benefit so greatly from hanging out with happy and sensible people.

Shaking Things up a Bit

The complexities of modern day living have the ability to entrap us in fixed monotonous routines. This problem could also seep into the care-free lives of children and make them repeat the same activities day in and day out.

How does one break free from the shackles of monotony? By shaking things up a bit and finding new hobbies/interests for your kids to help them in their personal development.

These are just some of the things that could get you started on the journey of inculcating a sense of self-esteem and confidence in kids. Surely, by the time kids reach adulthood, they would have a great reason to thank you for your efforts for teaching them such things that really matter in the physical world.