Self-Esteem

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is someone’s overall assessment of their worth as a human being. People with low self-esteem don’t value themselves very favorably, and people with high-self esteem evaluate themselves as very important.

In this article of the Modesto Bee the results of research on Self-esteem in the school environment is discussed. Apparently students with high self-esteem do not do well better in school because they have high self-esteem; rather they have high self-esteem because they get good grades. Another assumption that was invalidated was the idea that bullies suffered from low self-esteem and would turn around if the bully was shown understanding and praised. The idea that low self-esteem in children made them more susceptible to turning to violence was also debunked. In conclusion the money spent on self-esteem programs have been largely ineffective at changing a student’s academic performance.