Self Esteem in Teen

I recently read an article that stated that self esteem among teenagers had gotten too high. Here is the final quote from the article:

"Despite the popular beliefs, the vast majority of teens are quite satisfied with their bodies, appearance, intelligence, and capabilities. Efforts to instill self-esteem may have done their job too well, and like Muhammad Ali, most people feel pretty good about themselves - whether they should or not."

As I have been talking to over a hundred teenage girls from all over the country, I feel inclined to disagree with that quote. As I have been asking girls about the challenges that they face, body image is one challenge that comes up 90% of the time. That would not support the argument that the 'vast majority of teens are satisfied with their bodies'.

In my experience in working with teenage girls I have noticed that lack of self esteem is a major issue. I have worked with a lot of girls that put off a lot of self confidence, but that are very self concious underneath.

Here is a quote from the article that I kind of agree with:

"Twenge and other researchers believe that the decades of efforts to boost self-esteem may have created unrealistic expectations in today's youth, and their inflated self-esteem may lead to a sense of entitlement: "I'm great, so I deserve great things."

Jean Twenge is an associate producer of psychology at San Diego State University. I totally agree that there is an epidemic of entitlement among our youth today. From my own observations, levels of entitlement and levels of self esteem are not directly related. Believe me, there are loads of teens who hate who they are, but still expect that they deserve great things. In my experience it comes from the thought that since life has handed them unhappiness, the world owes it to them to make them happy.

While self esteem and entitlement may be too high in some teens, I believe it is still a major problem to be faced for those teens who do not like themselves.

Mathew Edvik is a co-founder of the Teen Esteem Council. He is the author of two ebook. 'The How To Guide To A Better Perception Of You' and 'Moms Are On The Inside Track To Heaven'. He has been working exclusively with teen girls for the last 3 years.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mathew_Edvik

Self-esteem has become the slogan for counsellors, psychologists, life coaches, and self-help gurus. We are told to instill it in our children, to foster it in ourselves and not let anyone damage our self-esteem. But what is it? What is this mythical, elusive concept that is supposed to change all our lives for the better?

Self-esteem is often defined as the collection of information you have about yourself. So it's the way you describe yourself or what you think or feel about yourself when you look in the mirror. It is the estimation of your value and worth.

Fine, that might make sense but how do we actually gain self-awareness and insight? How do we make self-esteem real and translate that information into our daily lives instead of it seeing it as meaningless psychobabble that is full of confusion and contradictions? Society tells us to find our inner strength without using our new found power to put anyone else down. We are told to have pride but not be egotistical. We should work on having good self esteem but don't just do it to please others. Right, it's all as clear as the sky in the middle of a storm.

What if we could clear the storm clouds and find a path the leads to insight and understanding? One avenue is to treat your self-worth as if it were a bank account. Therefore investing in yourself with the same attitude and motivation as you do your financial savings. Every dollar counts in today's climate so too does every cent of self-esteem credit.

Just as you would challenge a mistake on a receipt or invoice you have to challenge errors in your assumptions or perceptions about yourself. Do not bank information that is unkind or an unnecessary judgment - these things are of no value to you. Negativity won't increase your assets, the more you invest in negatives the more you will lose.

Do not bank goals or traits that represent a facsimile of what others want you to be. That means letting go of "should" statements such as "I should be more like my sister" or "I should have a better job by now".

If you invest your assets wisely, your portfolio will grow. The interest accumulates from not holding yourself back or letting others hold you back. By looking at your self esteem as a bank account you can translate the psychobabble into relatable and practical language that really can help you to accurately calculate your assets and resources. Thinking of your self-esteem as a bank account is the simplest way to understand your self-image, understand why it's worth it, and strengthen it if necessary. Decide your worth investing in.

"The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others." - Dr Sonya Friedman

For more information please visit http://www.hopechoice.com where you will find the Bank It Ebook. The Bank It Ebook is about self-esteem building for the real world. The booklet will take you through step-by-step activities that will allow you to see the affect poor self-esteem is having on you and how to change the way you see yourself. The Bank it Ebook is designed to build up your self-esteem muscles in an achievable and realistic way. Hopechoice is also to home to a range of Hope Challenge Ebooks that have been created from over twenty years of combined counselling experience and research to provide you with the most effective tools for change and over coming negative thinking.

The Hope Challenge Ebook will show you how to Combat fear, Make hope real, and Transform negative thinking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gretchen_Netterfield