Teen Self-Esteem Issues
I recently read a blog that said that 50% of young girls injure themselves because of low self esteem. The blog didn’t reference the study, but common sense tells me that this isn’t true. For one, I am a teen and I know lots of teens. None of them are injuring themselves. And if they have low self-esteem, they are hiding it pretty well.
The article went on to blame the media and mothers for making teenage girls insecure. Really? Here’s the problem, nobody can make someone insecure. Sure you can provide outside noise, but insecurity comes from inside your own head. The damage that these articles does is that it creates victims.
Teens need to take ownership of their feelings. If they see a skeletal model and it makes them feel fat, that’s their decision, not the media’s. (When I see a skeletal model, I feel sorry for her and I want to give her a sandwich.) If their mom tells them that they look ugly in a shirt, and then they feel ugly, that’s their decision. They need to own it.
I have my moments when I feel self-doubt, but they are fleeting. A long time ago, my parents taught me that my feelings were just noise in my head. I could feel bad or good about myself. But no-one can make you feel anything.
The best thing you can do for your teens is give them experiences that will help them build their confidence. When you have successes in your life to refer back to in those moments of doubt, you can easily change your attitude.
I have to disagree with you about lots of kids not having low self-esteem. I always did, as an adolescent and a teen. I didn’t show it, but I did. Check with that quiet girl sitting by herself in math class. She’ll watch the other kids make jokes and play around, but she knows she’s watching from the outside.
Hi Jenna,
I bet lots of teens have low self esteem problems. But the part that I doubt is that 50% injure themselves because of it. That statistic seems really high.
Thanks for the comment,
Chloe
I pretty much agree - although I am not one of them, I know a big number of students with low self esteem. However, only a tiny fraction of them would (or does) take it as far as hurting themselves…
Your article really made me think though, I will surely talk about this on my blog sometime soon.
Also to answer your comment on my blog: I am in grade 10 now. And the only classes where we can move up (or down :)) are Languages and Maths. So don’t worry, its the same here :)))
We can obviously choose from grade 11 onwards, when the real IB Diploma programme begins. If your interested I can give you a list of the subjects available in our school :)) But then again, I go to a private international school, so it may be different :))
And the reason we have German is, that we live in a german-speaking country :)) Other than that, we only have French and Spanish. For the IB, we can also get a private teacher though…
Aaah, I am still so glad I found your blog!
I agree with you that the statistic of 50% of teen girls injuring themselves is high. But I think that feelings play a much bigger role in our lives than you give them credit for. As a person whose mom is much more attractive than me, it’s easy for me to get down when the guys say they would rather date her. Low self-esteem is a big deal and shouldn’t be swept under the rug.
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