Parents have a great influence in the way their children will view themselves.
Parents who view themselves in a negative way can cause their children to reflect the same behavior and have low self-esteem, according to Alex Corey, training and technical assistance coordinator for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential.
“Parents need to model healthy behavior and when parents have self-respect, that really encourages children to have self-respect,” said Corey.
Corey explained that when children do not have people in their life who will teach them life skills, they will constantly feel left behind and feel below the standard of what their peers in school are.
Teenagers will often have risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking cigarettes and other drugs because they are trying to fit it, according to Corey.
“There main focus is fitting in rather than respecting themselves and respecting their parents and other authority members,” Corey said.
Corey explained that a child can gain low self-esteem if they experience failure of some degree and no one is there to encourage them to do better.
“That can happen when a child is put down by their parent or care giver or a teacher at school, and their not encouraged at school,” Corey said. “So whenever they fail, they really feel the weight of that and there’s no one to tell them that it’s okay and it’s not the end of the world.”
Corey said parents should encourage their children during times of success and failure to help increase their child’s self-confidence and self-respect. There is no specific age a child begins to learn about self-confidence and self-respect, and there is no age where it is too late to learn those life skills, according to Corey.
"Time to Talk" is produced with the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and BayouLife Magazine.
