Asset #38,
Self-esteem

Download MS Word
Download Text

Asset Story Archive
11/02 Asset # 37, Personal Power

10/02 Asset #36, Peaceful Conflict Resolution

09/02 Asset #24, Bonding to School

08/02 Asset #7, Community Values Youth

07/02 Asset #38, Self-esteem

05/02 Asset #40, Positive View of Personal Future

04/02 Asset #31, Restraint

03/02 Asset #32, Planning and Decision Making

02/02 Asset #29, Honesty

Self-Esteem Ensures a Young Person's Success

Young people come up against countless situations that can make them doubt their abilities or their worth-a poor grade in school, teasing, being rejected or ignored. When young people have self-esteem, they learn to put these situations in perspective and to move beyond the negative feelings.
But what determines whether a young person develops self-esteem? Stanley Coopersmith, author of Antecedents of Self-Esteem, points out that a young person's self-esteem is not related to family wealth, education, social class or the father's or mother's occupation. Instead, he writes, "It is related to the quality of the relationships with the primary adults in the child's life."

Self-esteem has been identified as one of 40 essential "assets"-or building blocks of healthy development-that young people need in their lives to succeed. According to Search Institute, young people who have self-esteem are more likely to grow up caring, confident and responsible, and are less likely to drop out of school, be involved in violence or use alcohol or drugs.

"Self-esteem is one of the most important gifts we can give to a child," says María Guajardo Lucero, Ph.D., director of Assets for Colorado Youth, a nonprofit organization promoting positive youth development. "To build self-esteem in young people, adults must provide positive reinforcement. We need to praise their good behavior more than we correct their bad behavior."
In fact, researchers with the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group found in a 15-year study of 800 inner-city schoolchildren that those who took part in a program aimed at raising their self-esteem were less involved in risk-taking behaviors.

• "Our study has found that those in the program had less history of violence in their lifetimes, less heavy use of alcohol, and that fewer had multiple sex partners," said Researcher David Hawkins.
  
• Assets for Colorado Youth recommends these tips for building self-esteem in young people:
• Accept and acknowledge a child's thoughts and feelings
  
• Clearly define and enforce rules and boundaries that are fair, non-oppressive and negotiable
  
• Take young people's needs and wishes seriously
  
• Be available for discussion when a young person wants it
  
• Teach a child to take pride in his or her cultural heritage
  
• Model self-esteem by accepting and respecting yourself

Helping to develop self-esteem in young people provides them with the tools they need to control what happens to them and to direct their lives toward a positive future.

Get monthly news on asset-building, tips, upcoming events and asset stories delivered right to your desktop by subscribing to the ACY Breaking News e-mail. Send your subscription request to kirsten@assetsforcoyouth.org.