How to improve your child’s self-esteem

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - With children back in school, it’s important for parents to help build up their self-esteem.

Self-esteem, also known as self-worth, is how we identify the feeling that everything is going to be okay.

“How parents and mentors foster those failures and successes is eventually how that translates into self-esteem,” explained Matthew Fetter with Brynn Marr Hospital.

Low self-esteem can lead to severe depression and anxiety, difficulty maintaining friendships and inability to try anything new because of a fear of failure.

Fetter says parents can help build a child’s self-esteem by making it clear that their love for their child is unconditional regardless of their failures or if they make bad decisions. He says it’s important to praise your child when they do something right, but not to overpraise them because that can be equally as detrimental.

He adds, “Allowing them to fail occasionally reinforces that it’s not the end of the world.”

For additional help, there are resources online, at Brynn Marr Hospital or by calling the hospital at (910) 577-1400.

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