Photo by RODNAE Productions
Self-esteem is often hard to cultivate, but through active engagement with their characters, children can learn to build confidence and self-love from story books.
Self-esteem is a rather tricky thing to talk about, especially with children. Where does one go about finding it? Do you have to do something to have self-esteem? Is it an acquired attribute? Or is it something given to you? What’s the difference between someone who holds themselves confidently and someone who people think is confident but is actually quite shy inside?
One thing’s for sure, though, self-esteem is NOT something someone is born with. Rather, it is something that one somehow has, at some point, in their life. If you’re lucky, you get to have it throughout your whole life!
Why is Having Self-Esteem Important?
As members of what Aristotle described as “social animals,” humans, you and I, are always interacting with one another. It is the foundation of relationships and the basis for government, these engagements we have towards one another. So, learning to navigate this vast and interconnected web of relationships is important to surviving in this world.
And how successfully you navigate the world depends as much on your confidence as it does on luck.
At a young age, we associate confidence with self-satisfaction. Sometimes, we go too far and twist it with arrogance. But I would think that arrogance can be defined more specifically as “misplaced” confidence. Proper confidence, on the other hand, can be described more in terms of awareness and self-understanding.
But going back to my earlier statement–at a young age, we associate confidence with self-satisfaction. Children who are quite confident, those who feel good about themselves, are the kids who are open to trying new things. These are the kids who take the initiative to learn more about the world around them. These kids are the ones who persevere longer before giving up.
The most useful aspect of having self-esteem when you are a young kid is that it gives you the ability to cope with mistakes, negative situations, and the like.
When I was still a young child, I did not have much confidence and so whenever I failed to do anything, my first course of action would always be to retreat to myself and just give up.
But there was one kid in my neighborhood who I remember who never gave up. He was always moving forward, climbing up trees, running everywhere, and just enjoying himself.
This is a critical benefit of having self-esteem, the ability to enjoy yourself despite failure.
Kids who have a low opinion of themselves or, at least, who are unconfident, tend to think very negatively of every possible outcome. They won’t join in with other kids because they might not like them. They won’t try to do this and that because they might not be good at it. Kids with no self-esteem give up easily or never try at all. If they are bullied, they do not stand up for themselves, and when something bad happens, they think it is their fault.
I mean, we’ve been kids before, and I think we can all agree that failure, even just failing at throwing a ball through a hoop at that age, is devastating. That’s why it is so important that we teach our children how to be confident in themselves.
How Do We Build Up Confidence?
There are a ton of ways we can help to make our kids confident. But one method I have found and am delighted with is reading. For a lot of kids, reading can be a difficult task–but that’s if no one is there to guide them. This is where, as parents, we can truly help our children. You see, the lack of self-confidence oftentimes comes from an absence, or lack, of support. What this means is when a kid fails or experiences a setback, no one is there to assure them of anything. No one is there to help them get back up.
And reading is a perfect opportunity for parents to provide support to their children while, at the same time, bonding with them and helping them learn. Those are three birds with one stone!
By being there for your kids and guiding them with their reading journey, you slowly build up confidence and a sense of satisfaction from persevering. This is especially so with reading story books.
With story books, there is a character for your child to relate to and grow with along the read. For the parent, a storybook is a perfect vehicle to teach children values and good behavior.
So, if you’re looking to start, why not go and build confidence and self-love from story books?
The Happy Hammock 