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[B977]Building Self Esteem In Girls

by Ruth Wells, Rut

At our live workshops, we often get requests for interventions that can enhance self-worth-- and we do have many creative methods for all age levels. However, at class, we always offer a cautionary note: If a child hears at home that they are no good, or the child is called racist names, or is physically assaulted in the community, there is no strategy that can speak louder than that fist, that racist name, or that put-down from home. So, the best time to use self-esteem builders is when the child is no longer being put down at home, called bad names, etc.

It may not be a popular perspective, but it is probably correct: When children are currently facing events that generate low self-esteem, that is a normal reaction to the abuse they encounter. Your initial focus should not necessarily be to counter that reasonable reaction, but instead to help the child avoid, manage or process the abusive events.

For children who no longer face the verbal assaults or physical abuse, or whatever caused their feelings of low worth, that is the population for whom these interventions offer special value. Remember though, that self-esteem doesn't strike randomly, but generally is caused by the specific events the child has faced or is facing now. You must address those events and not just skim over them. With that in mind, when the time is right, here are some fun strategies that can help build esteem:

Esteem Magazine:
Have your students put themselves on the cover of "Esteem Magazine: For Students Who Know That Esteem is More Than Just Hot Air." Have your youngsters fill the magazine with the items created via some of the next interventions (offered below), so that students create a publication that captures many of their positive qualities.

Picture Us
Using a digital or instant camera, have a student snap pictures of your class members. List on the board qualities such as "good leader," "reliable," "kind to others" and "always willing to help." Have students sort the pictures to fit the categories using removable adhesive to secure the photos to the board. Have plenty of categories so each picture can be placed. Afterward, students can be given their photos with the correct category noted below the picture. An award ribbon can be added.

Caught Doing Good
Make award ribbons (that can attach to clothing with a pin) and are imprinted: "Caught Doing Good." Award these periodically to class members as the individual student's behavior warrants it. This is a great intervention for youth who are "always in trouble" and consequently feel bad about themselves.

Happy New School Year
This activity works best at the start of the school year, or it also works well in January. Sometimes students feel bad about themselves because they are failing at tasks at your school or agency. Have students make "Happy New School Year" resolutions, which can be placed into balloons and released into the sky (and later recovered.) Work with each class member to develop a plan to succeed at their resolutions. You can even have a "Happy New School Year" party, which can make it harder to be so completely sour and negative about your site.

Everybody Know Somebody Who Doesn't
Like Them Sometimes
Some students believe that everyone should like them. Especially during middle school, chances are that most students will be aware that other youngsters do not seem to like them. That can be hard on esteem. Teach students that about a third of the kids will like them, a third won't like them, a third don't care, and if you feel those numbers are similar to what you experience, you're doing just fine. Students can make illustrations that clarify what each third looks like.

Before and After
Have students make "Before" and "After" pictures of themselves, similar to the ads for weight loss companies that show the person before and after they lost weight. This activity can help discouraged youngsters better imagine good outcomes. The ads can focus on any area from earning better grades, to improving hygiene to having more friends.

Picture This
Have students cut up magazines and affix pictures to the outside of a paper grocery bag. The pictures should show the student's good qualities. The bags should show the student's name and photograph, and can be titled: Picture the Good Things About Me. A follow-up: students can write positive comments about their peers and place the comments into the bags so that the bags are filled with positive feedback.

Everyone Makes Mistooks
Perfectionist students can quickly feel awful about themselves when they aren't perfect, when they make mistakes. To alleviate the anger they may feel towards themselves for missing a question on a quiz, or misspelling a word in a major spelling bee, help the students to discover that "everyone makes mistooks." You first make a mistook by tripping, for example. Challenge your perfectionistic students to make "mistooks" such as dropping their pencils, for example. Your goal is to reduce the sting and intensity of making everyday errors.

Perfectly Imperfect
To further show perfectionistic students that everyone makes mistakes, teach your class that no one is perfect, that sooner or later everyone mispronounces a word or drops the ball in a game, for example. Teach your students that they can't be perfect, but they can be "perfectly imperfect." The more you reduce the anger and shame of making mistakes, that some perfectionistic students experience, the less their self- esteem will rise and fall based on performance. It is not healthy to have one's esteem based on external factors that none of us can completely control.

Want more ways to work successfully with children with low self-esteem? Consider coming to one of my live Breakthrough Strategies classes (http://www.youthchg.com/live.html), or order the course on DVD/video (http://www.youthchg.com/tape.html). Some of the methods in this article came from my "Learning to Like the Kid in the Mirror" book. View information on this book at http://www.youthchg.com/lessons.html.

There is plenty of competition to go around in this world. If you are a Yoga teacher, you should not encourage competition within a Kids Yoga class. This is not easily done. Each child wants praise, but this can be accomplished by making your Yoga class a nurturing event, where every child who participates, can feel a sense of self-worth.

This atmosphere, which is designed by the Yoga instructor, will develop a child's character ?from the ground up.? Each child is unique and special in his or her own way. Children have to be taught to appreciate themselves as they are. Self-worth cannot be calculated by the skill of one single activity, and Yoga is the sum of many different activities, within a given class.

When I first started teaching Yoga to children, I began to integrate Vinyasa Yoga into the warm-ups of our children's martial arts classes; some parents wondered why? Soon, some of the children, who had Attention Deficit Disorder, and other attention span problems, became more focused for the rest of the class. Still, other children, who regularly practiced Vinyasa Yoga warm-ups, started to develop a more pronounced muscular appearance. This may have been due to many factors, such as the cross training involved in practicing Vinyasa Yoga and martial arts, on a regular basis - while many other children, who attended these integrated classes, went home, did their homework, and slept better.

Eventually, we established a pure Kids Yoga class, and it was scheduled between two children's martial arts classes. The children were enthusiastic and the parents were, and still are, very supportive. In the above-mentioned examples, different children gained different benefits from learning Yoga.

As children continue to learn Yoga, they should also be taught to refrain from comparing themselves to other children in the Yoga class. This is not easy for a Yoga teacher to do, but can be accomplished by teaching children to accept themselves as they are, and that trying their best is really good enough.

Regular attendance to Kids Yoga classes is the key to getting rid of emotional baggage. Children must be taught to appreciate themselves in a positive way, and the study of Yoga can give any child self-empowerment. When children gather and participate in Yoga instruction on a steady basis, they also make new friends. The parents who send their children to study Yoga sincerely care.

Therefore, any child who learns Yoga is surrounded by children of ?like-minded? parents. Yoga training for children is, in essence, a controlled atmosphere - even though the Yoga class setting is relaxed.

? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Article Source : Pg. 10

About Author

Both Ruth Wells & Paul M. Jerard Jr. are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Ruth Wells has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Self Esteem and Teachers. Ruth Herman Wells MS is the director of Youth Change, (.) See hundreds more of her innovative, problem-stopping interventions at Youth Change's web si. Ruth Wells's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.

Paul M. Jerard Jr. has sinced written about articles on various topics from Leadership, Yoga Practice and Anger Control. Paul Jerard is director of Yoga teacher training at Aura in RI. He's a master instructor of martial arts and Yoga. He teaches that along with fitness. He wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students who want to be a teacher.. Paul M. Jerard Jr.'s top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.