Where does low self-esteem come from?  We certainly aren’t born with it.

  This is my grandson Rhylan, on the day of his third birthday. You can see he is trying to        hold up three fingers.  Children of that age are full of confidence. 

  One day, my daughter Shauna, Rhylan’s mother was in the car with her husband, Shawn,  Rhylan and their 18 month old daughter, Kendrah.  Rhylan made some rude noise (he burped, I think) and started to laugh, saying “I’m funny”.

Shawn replied, “You’re not funny”. 

Rylan:  “Yes, I am, I’m funny”. 

Shawn:  “No, you’re not funny”. 

Rylan: (with much more emphasis in his voice) “Listen to me, Shawn, I’m funny!”

Shauna was laughing hysterically, but silently, in the front seat.  After all, she couldn’t approve because Rhylan’s response to his father wasn’t really appropriate.  But he was standing up for himself.  That is an example of good self esteem.

But it doesn’t last.  Several studies have been done on self-esteem.  The results of the studies show that by the time children reach Junior High School, 69% of boys and only 50% of girls still feel good about themselves.  By High School, that has changed to 51% of boys and 24% of the girls.  And among adult women, only 1 in 5 women feel good about themselves.

I will go into greater detail on where low self-esteem comes from in the next blog.