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

In todays age and the growing trend in American society of whats hot and whats not, is having a huge impact on young childrens self-concept and self-confidence. Self-concept refers to the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and ideas people arrive about themselves, whereas self-esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness that indicates the extent to which the somebody believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy (392).My interest on this subject was peaked after spending the evening with my five year-old cousin, Sami, last 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 cutting herself down. Research shows that physical appearance is the strongest correlate of ball-shaped 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 pick up their phy sical 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 inculcate students are more apt to make judgments of themselves, not children in kindergarten.I feel that television, magazines, books and the internet make our spring chicken have a lower self-esteem because they feel they are not as good looking as the characters on their favorite television show. My cousin watches Nickelodeon and even on childrens shows it seems there are no ugly or fat children. The actresses look older than I do because of all the make-up 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 slim and trim (398).In the classroom, self-concept and self-esteem have a huge impact on how well a child does in give instruction. When I was in 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 causation says, and older students self-concept may be further broken down according to success in individual subject areas, such 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 switch classes and concentrate on a certain subject per period.