Teens and Self-Esteem

Teens going through their teenage years gradually develop a mental picture of themselves. It is called self-esteem, and it provides valuable clues to teens' questions such as, "Who am I?", "How do I look?", or "What am I good at?"

Self-esteem is how you think about and what you expect of yourself. Some experts say it is developed early during childhood and is influenced by your experiences, your relationships with family members and friends, and by your environment.

Self-Esteem: A Teen's Social Dilemma

Mom and Dad's praise or criticism, friends' acceptance or rejection, and teachers' attitudes will affect people from early childhood all the way through high school.

Teasing by peers, constant criticism, and failures in what they do may make teens feel helpless, perhaps even worthless. On the other hand, praise, support and excelling at something they are good at can help build these teens' self-esteem.

Question: How do You Feel About Yourself?

How you feel about yourself can influence how you live your life.

If you feel you are likable and lovable, you'll have better relationships. If you believe you can achieve your goals and solve your problems, you are more likely to do well in school.

Having high self-esteem enables you to accept yourself and live your life to the fullest. You feel happier. You find it much easier to deal with disappointments and failures, and you are more likely to persist until you succeed.

Do You Have High Self-Esteem?

A healthy dose of self-esteem, or the lack of it, may affect the decisions you make during adolescence and through your teenage years. Other influences such as peer pressure can influence you as a teenager and affect how you make decisions.

The level of your self esteem also affects those decisions, be it about playing which type of sports, which subjects to take, which friends to hang out with, or other matters like smoking, drinking, or if or when to have sex.

We all have problems with our self-image and self-esteem, especially during our teenage years when we're trying to figure out where we fit in and who we really are. The good thing is that if you feel your confidence and self esteem isn't what it should be, you can improve it.

Yes, teens can improve their self-esteem...

Boosting Teen Self-Esteem

Teenagers may feel awkward, even ugly, as their body undergoes the changes that happen naturally during their teen-age years. But the good thing is, they can change the way they feel about themselves and the way others perceive them.

How can you, as a teenager, do it?

It's simple enough: Change the way you think about yourself...

Worried about your weight, height or anything else that may be unhealthy? Then consult your family physician. If everything is okay medically or physically, then you can begin to deal with your self-image problem.

Begin by accepting that you, indeed, are a unique person. Concerned about how you look? Then understand that attractive people come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and that teens like yourself who don't look like the sexiest man or woman alive are, in fact, liked and loved by someone.

Set realistic goals you feel you can achieve. If you're worried about your weight, decide to exercise and eat healthy. If you keep at it, you'll lose those extra pounds and enjoy that great feeling of success.

Self-Esteem and The Teen's Inner Voice

And when your inner voice starts to put you down, fight it with positive thoughts. Replace "I'm fat and ugly" with "I eat right, exercise, lose weight and look great!" Replace "I flunked the test; I'm stupid" with "I'm smart and I can do even better!"

Compliment yourself often. Say to yourself...

"I'm smart."
"I'm good at science."
"I'm very funny."
"My hair looks perfect today."

Will doing this mean you're conceited? Not at all.

No Negatives Please...

You must break the habit of focusing on the negative. Shift your focus on positive thoughts and feelings.

Here's another tip to boost self-esteem in teens.

At the end of each day, think about two or three good things that happened during the day. Maybe an old friend who months ago had turned away from you smiled and said hello this morning. Maybe you got high marks in your science test. Or maybe your teacher complimented you for a job well done.

If you think about it, rarely does a day pass without something good happening to make us happy. It's true. You just have to find those happy moments in your days to boost your self-confidence and self-esteem and to feel good about yourself.