Building Self-Esteem in Young Adolescents: A Crucial Internal Asset - Essay Sample

Introduction

Self-esteem is an asset that is in most cases underrated in the lives of young adolescents, and self-esteem is much more than a sense of fake self-confidence or an instilled sense of self-worth, self -esteem is more of one's strong beliefs and perspective from which a sense of self significance is built from. Self-esteem should be a measure of the performance and the healthy upbringing of children. Still, instead, it should be considered as a very crucial internal asset that boosts the overall wellbeing of children, especially young adolescents. In most cases, parents tend to assume that the children who perform exemplary in their studies have a higher self-esteem compared to those who do not do well in their academics as well as those who engage in brutal cases such as drug abuse, theft and prostitution.in real sense, this is not always the case because the reverse might be true ("Self-Esteem," n.d., p. 78). For instance, it might be possible that the children who are successful in their studies might have much lower self-esteem compared to the kids who engage in criminal activities. The main issue is that most parents assume that self-esteem is an outcome of ethical behaviour that they anticipate from their children in terms of the set goals. It is also very crucial to understand and note that self-esteem is an essential asset for proper growth and the development of young adolescents. Low- self-esteem can be described as lack of self-confidence among the young adolescents, this is a condition that can be culminated by the gradual changes in both the body and the mindset of the young adolescents especially those from the age of 10 years to 14 years. Religion is very paramount in the growth and development of children from an early age ("Self-Esteem," n.d., p. 54). Parents should at all times try and raise their children religiously for it to be possible to boost the self-esteem of the children by the practical means of using the biblical context in the day in and day out lives of the children. This book or paper focuses on the possible ways of improving the self-esteem of young adolescents between the ages of 10-14 years. The book will examine both the biblical context and incorporate it with the daily lives of the children to help young adolescents to grow up with high self-esteem and self-confidence.

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Self-Recognition a Practical Measure for Self-Esteem

To begin with, it is very crucial to understand that self-esteem is the recognition and comprehension that all the individuals on the planet earth or of value and have a purpose of existence. The understanding is fundamental, especially when it comes to young adolescents. This is because of various reasons which include; with high self-esteem and self-confidence, young adolescents can view themselves as valuable and therefore, they can quickly try out new things and ideas because they have faith that they can always achieve their set goals in their lives. High self-esteem among young adolescents shapes them to be ambitious in their daily lives. Another case is that kids who have well-developed self-esteem are in a position to be strong enough to counter the convictions that may come from other people and stand firm with their beliefs on how and why specific actions happen. This helps such young adolescents to be strong enough and not to be gullible or easily swayed by those who might want to bring them down ("Self-Esteem," n.d., p. 45). High self-esteem enables young adolescents to establish a spirit of being strong enough to handle disappointments and failure after the first attempt. Self-esteem from a religious perspective enables young adolescents to grow up with a greater understanding of self-value, self-worth, which makes the youths to be successful and productive young adults as they mature. High self-esteem in conjunction with other positive traits such as a sense of integrity, care and motivation as well as justice boosts the lives of the young adolescents making them productive in their endeavors' by taking the discouragements and disappointments as a stepping stone to their success in the long run. Such kids lack self-doubt.

Unconditional Love

Boosting self-esteem of young adolescents is a continuous process that is long term which helps nurture the healthy development of the kids from the time they are young to when they grow up to be successful adults. The process can be done through the provision of unconditional love from the parents to the children (Rae, 2013, p. 67). Unconditional love to the young adolescents can come from various institutions such as the religious homes and institutions where the young adults are taught the spirit of faith and appreciation of everyone's value on the face of the earth through the provision of unconditional love form the biblical context and the actions of the adults. Unconditional love is an act of appreciation and valuing the people for whom they are, what they do, their looks as well as that which people can easily. It is a sense of the value of people for who they are ad accepting them. According to the biblical context and the religious perspectives, the children who are young adults should be reminded often that they are made in the image and likeness of the Supreme Being who is God. By such acceptance, the children who are raised in a religion manner should understand well enough that the recognition of being made in God's image is the beginning of receipt that one is worthwhile, with many gifts and a person who has unconditional affection and love towards others.

Self-Appraisal

The young developing adolescents should be taught on how to appreciate what they do by congratulating and applauding their efforts in something before being too quick to praise and compliment others. For instance, the young adolescents or people, in general, tend to first acknowledge the sex and triumph of the other people at all times forgetting that they too have made achievements that cannot go unacknowledged. As a practical way of improving and boosting one's self-esteem. Developing young adolescents should be nurtured in a way that they learn to celebrate their small wins. It is only through that that they can be able to see and a recap of the small steps they are making in life and hence be proud of themselves at all times. Being mindful and celebrating other peoples moves is good but, young adolescents should learn first to start acknowledging their wins however small before going uproar to congratulate others of their big wins making them look inferior, yet they have achievements that require applause. Children should be taught on how to appreciate their looks by various small moves which then become habits (Rae, 2013, p. 78). For instance, every morning after washing the face, the parents should make it a habit of making the young adults look in the mirror and see how wonderful they look in the image of God. Such a practice will enable the children to appreciate themselves even more. Every time a child looks in the mirror or stands in front of a mirror, they will be able to notice their well-outlined features and appreciate the works of God on their body. Through this, the children believe that they are a piece of art made from God's image and likeness. Since God is no junk maker, they should then appreciate themselves more than they do daily. Such actions will enable the children to recognise themselves daily, especially their looks something that improves the self-worth and the self-esteem of young adolescents. Parents play a huge role in ensuring that the children grow up while appreciating their appearance by looking in the mirror while doing certain activities such as brushing the teeth, after a shower, after washing their face in the morning and practice when they apply body oil or even after they try on new clothes. Children should be raised and taught about being positive about their looks at all times. This way, they can be sure to look like whatever they feel like, thus boosting self-confidence on their approach to things and issues.

Depression Management

According to Sean covey on the habits of solving depression, the young adolescents should be raised in a way that they can be able to handle depression by being able to help others to avoid thinking of the stresses that they are undergoing at the moment. Doing something for someone else makes it possible for young adolescents to focus more on the outward rather than the inward, which might be quite damaged at the moment. Being of service to others at the time when one is depressed results to feeling good of oneself, it is, therefore, a sign that God has a plan for our lives. Self-discovery is also another step to improving one's self-esteem. Before self-discovery, it can be quite hard to blend in with friends. Coping up with friends without a struggle can be as a result of being able to find God's purpose in one's life thus helps in knowing the worth and value of a person. Parents should work on improving the kids to find themselves at a quite a young age to avoid the struggles of coping up with friends and fellow age mates in the learning institution. Parents and caregivers should work on the identification of natural abilities. This can be done by attending the events where the children are active participators and being their cheerleader (Rae, 2013, p. 87). Such actions from parents and caregivers are bound to boost the self-esteem of the children and help with the identification of the children's natural abilities. Young adolescents like to feel supported and appreciated. Only the cordial relationship with the kids that a guardian will be able to find out the career choices as well as their natural abilities based on their God-given strengths and talents.

Positive Mindset

The kids who are young adolescents should be taught and nurtured by both the parents, the caregivers and the patients on how to do away with the negative thoughts at all times. Negative thoughts such as the feeling of being rejected and suicidal thoughts are like the roots of every evil tree in the lives of young adolescents. Such beliefs can result in negative impacts such as death and many other adverse effects on the lives of young adolescents. It is therefore crucial for the children to be nurtured on how to culminate a culture of being positive at all times in an environment that promotes growth and positivity to improve the attitude of the children thus impacting positive thinking which enhances the lives of the young adolescents by growing and developing in an environment that promotes positive growth hence a boost in the self-worth and the self-confidence of the young adolescents. Such a step can be done by recognition of the negative thoughts by the adolescents and replacing them with the positive feelings which stir growth. A continued process of replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts becomes natural in the long run. For instance, in a case where one may be thinking of committing suicide, it is crucial to replace such negative thoughts with what would be like in the next ten years. What if I studied hard and graduate in the next five years? Such a mood in the life of a young adolescent will motivate them to even work harder for a successful future in the long run. Positive thoughts motivate teenagers to set goals and become ambitious enough to achieve the set goals and succeed in life.

The guardians and the parents who are raising young adolescents should make it a routine of assessing the values of the young adults from time to time and determine on whether they are in line with the religion or the Christian concepts of both the family and the person or the adolescent in cont...