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.

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