How to Promote Self-esteem in Your Teen

Self-esteem, a powerful word with such impact it can change someone life, either for the good or the bad. Teenagers today struggle with having high self-esteem due to the never ending battle of who is better then the other.
To keep a teenagers self-esteem high, parents need to learn how to promote the whole self-esteem issue. Self-esteem begins at home, if properly taught, there will be no issues that arise once they venture outside of the home.

Always reassure your teenager that you love them. Even if they shrug their shoulders or ignore you when you tell them, they are listening. Just listening in the way most teenagers listen.

Never criticize their choice in clothes, make-up, foods, or music. Just because you do not seem to like a specific thing that they do, does not mean that it should be criticized. Freedom of expression in teenagers is all a part of growing up.

Keep your opinions of their friends within the parent/child relationship. Meaning, if you have something to say about their friends, wait until their friend or friends are not around when giving your opinion. If you do not like their friends only for selfish reasons, those opinions should be kept to ones self. If you feel that their friends are bad influences, then that is when your child should be talk to in private. Respect is one of the most important aspects of the teenager/parent relationship.

Show interest in what interests them. Whether you like it or not, show interest. Ask them how their day was. How their time with their friends was. If their is anything new in their life that you do not know about. Stay informed about their life. Do not be a stranger, do not suffocate them either. Being aware of what they are doing is fine, being overly aware, causes more problems then good.

If they have not learned to drive, start to teach them to drive. Allowing them to be responsible gives the teenager a sense of being an adult. Which shows them that as the parent you trust them enough to allow them to begin driving. This promotes high self-esteem.

Include them in family discussion that are important. Do not keep important decisions that affect the family from them. Always keep them in the loop of things. This shows them that you want them to know what is going on and you value their opinion in important and non-important matters.

Last, but not least, always take their feelings into considerations and praise their efforts in anything they do, no matter how big or small it may be. Self-esteem will not develop over night, it will take some time to build. By educating yourself, the process of developing high self-esteem in your teenager can be lessened greatly.