Self-Esteem and Self-Concept :: Self Image Self Perception Essays

In todays senesce and the growing trend in American society of whats hot and whats not, is having a huge continue on young childrens self-concept and self-esteem. Self-concept refers to the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and ideas people have about themselves, whereas self-esteem is a personal judicial decision of worthiness that indicates the extent to which the individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy (392).My interest on this subject was peaked after spending the stock-stilling with my five year-old cousin, Sami, work week. We were sitting and eating dinner when she said, Cali, I am fat and ugly. Well, I almost fell out of my chair. At the age of five, she was already snip herself down. Research shows that material appearance is the strongest correlate of global self-worth in childhood and adolescence (398).However, our textbook explains that children around my cousins age have a hard time defining their sense of self. They tend to de scribe their physical characteristics, areas of interest, family life, etc (394). Nowhere in the text does it say that a child her age should be viewing herself in terms of physical attractiveness. Adolescence and high trail students are more apt to make judgments of themselves, not children in kindergarten.I feel that television, magazines, books and the internet make our youth have a pass up self-esteem because they feel they are not as good feeling as the characters on their favorite television show. My cousin watches Nickelodeon and even on childrens shows it seems in that respect are no ugly or fat children. The actresses look older than I do because of all the overcompensate and their choice of clothing. What does that say to our youth? Most American girls receive consistent and clear messages that beauty is defined in terms of being contract and trim (398).In the classroom, self-concept and self-esteem have a huge impact on how well a child does in school. When I was i n elementary school and especially high school, I would classify myself as being a good language arts student, but a poor Math and Science student. In elementary school there isnt as much competition between students, therefore I didnt feel the need to comment on my strengths and weaknesses. Like the reason says, and older students self-concept may be further low-down down according to success in individual subject areas, such(prenominal) as reading, mathematics, or science (394). In elementary school, all of the subjects could be incorporated into one lesson, while in high school the students spank classes and concentrate on a certain subject per period.