Bullying and cyberbullying are making headlines every day. Child behavior expert, Dr. Paul Schwartz says that a child's sense of self-esteem "significantly affects their emotional experiences as well as their future behavior and long-term psychological adjustment."
In other words, building a confident child from the get-go can impact how they grow and mature. Maybe a strong sense of self-esteem will eliminate the need to bully anyone, and equally, a confident child will be able to handle when a bully picks on them: they'll know what to do, perhaps they'll have created internal coping skills.
Parents who are looking to learn more about building self-esteem can get a wealth of information at our local libraries. The
Newburgh Free Library, for example, has a terrific parenting section which is updated regularly and covers many parenting topics including building self-esteem, how to work with special needs child, autism, health and nutrition. The library also has computers available for parents and child caregivers to conduct additional research, with aisles large enough to maneuver a stroller through. (How great is that!)
READ MORE: 8 tips to boosting your daughter's self-esteem
We found this great book,
Fostering Self-Esteem, which features page after page of easy to do projects with your child that create a healthy sense of self-worth. Here is one example: "Would you rather" is a question and answer game that you can do with kids when you're in the car, on line, or just sitting together. This helps your child learn to make choices and analyze why they made such a choice. You may say,
"Would you rather......be an elephant or a mouse?" or "
Would you rather watch a movie or a television show?" or
"Would you rather be hot or cold?"
Parents will find 15 other activities they can do with their child, or children. It's great for one of those "snow days" that's sure to pop up this year.
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