Parenting is an uphill battle. With different ages, come different challenges. And if parents do not rise to the occasion, that can scar your child, and at times, for life.
It is important still when the question is of your child’s self-esteem. It not only causes them to suffer from inferiority complex, but low self-esteem causes children to dislike and even hate themselves.
Low self-esteem can lead to mental health issues as well, that then also have a negative impact on their physical health as well, meriting then the intervention from a Pediatrician in Lahore.
Hence, parents should know what mistakes not to make to ensure that your child’s self-esteem is not harmed.
Parenting mistakes that can harm your child’s self-esteem
Admonishing them in front of others
Admittedly, disciplining your child is important, but if you admonish them in front of others, it can harm their dignity. You scolding or yelling at them in presence of company can cause harm to their self-esteem.
There are other ways you can discipline your child. In front of yelling or insulting them, try to treat them gently. Reframe the incident in a way that your child feels regretful but learns a lesson from it instead of taking a blow to the ego.
You can also visit the incident later, when you know your child is more receptive to your conversation about them making amends to their behavior. Also, do not bring the incident up again and again, as it can embarrass your child, and serve no purpose.
Making a big deal out of mistakes
Mistakes are often frowned upon and avoided like the plague. However, mistakes are an excellent learning moment. It is when you falter that your brain starts to learn.
Moreover, when you raise hue and cry over mistakes, you make your child extra conscious, ruin their self-esteem, prevent them from taking any risks and experiencing fear of failure.
So, do not berate them when they make a mistake. Encourage them to look at the bright side. Tell them to focus on what they have learnt. It will then help in making them humble as well.
Not teaching them how to deal with failure
Even though parents might not consciously do this, but often, parents do not teach their child how to deal with failure. When the focus solely is on winning, on bagging the prize, and on doing things without any struggle, failure is extremely hard to take.
It also causes a great blow to their self-esteem. Children might retreat into their shells and suffer from low confidence in their abilities. Hence, teach your child how to deal with failure.
One way is to not focus solely on winning. Teach them to learn the process, instead of the outcome. Making the procedure rewarding is better for your mental health as well.
Promoting perfectionism
People believe perfectionism is to be a good trait. It is consciously encouraged in children, and parents tend to praise perfectionism. Unfortunately, this praise has a negative impact on your child’s self-esteem; when they are not able to achieve their impossibly high standards, it causes a lot of harm to their self-esteem.
So, do not praise perfectionism. Focus on praising the process instead of the outcome. Moreover, perfectionism also causes fear of failure then alongside promoting procrastination. Overall, perfectionism has a negative impact on productivity as well.
Punishing them
Punishing your child does not have a good impact on their confidence. Of course, they should deal with the consequences of their bad choices, but do not punish them for it.
Corporal punishments are humiliating, can be traumatic and cause your child to think of themselves as a bad person. It can also have a negative impact on their mental health, which then requires treatment from an expert via oladoc.com. So, do discipline your child, but not punish them, especially in front of other people.
