5 Ways To Help Boost Your Teen's Self- Esteem

Greetings! We hope this post finds you all doing well and enjoying the final few months of 2012! We are happy to present a guest blog entry by Sara Dawkins. We hope that you are able to benefit from these tips on ways to improve your teen's self-esteem, and we invite you to comment on this and other entries to let us know your thoughts. Enjoy! ~Lisa and Diana
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5 Ways To Help Boost Your Teen's Self- Esteem by Sara Dawkins

Being a teen is tough because of the hormones, as well as the emotional and mental changes that teenagers experience. Throw in being an expat and things can get tough. A solid self-esteem is hard to come by during these years and can really affect their moods. Here are 5 ways you can help your teen see exactly how great and special they truly are: 

Journal: A good way to help your teen get their confidence is by urging them to write or journal daily. Writing daily will help them sort through their feelings and may come in handy if your child sees a counselor. Teens with low self-esteem tend to be upset, and writing out one’s feelings helps them release and address the problem at hand.

Volunteer: You may have heard the saying that it is better to give than to receive. This is said because of the overwhelming agreement that, when you do something nice for someone, you feel better in return. Sometimes it takes a little outside perspective for a teen to see that they are, in fact, okay. Sign them up to volunteer with a program as often as they can. There are plenty of shelters, soup kitchens and hospitals that need volunteers.

Counsel: There is only so much a parent can do to help their teen with their self-confidence issues. A school counselor or a therapist can help your child talk through their problems. Sometimes, it is easier to talk to someone that doesn’t know anything about their personal life, and can be that third party to give advice.

Exercise: Whether it's team sports or a daily bike ride, exercise is a great way to boost your teen’s self-esteem. Exercise increases your heart rate and increases blood flow, and then releases endorphins, which is the body’s natural ‘happy juice’. So, encourage your teen to get some regular exercise.

Hobby: There may be one thing that you have noticed your teen loves to do; it may be listening to music, drawing or collecting something. Take this hobby and enhance it. Get them lessons or the means to really dig deeper into their hobby. Focusing on something that they love to do will give them something they can be proud of and, in return, boost their self-esteem.

Author Bio

Sara is an active nanny as well as an active freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor of http://www.nannypro.com/.  Learn more about her http://www.nannypro.com/blog/sara-dawkins/.