Basic Do's and Don'ts

Your teenager’s self-esteem isn’t helped by:

• being compared to their siblings, other relatives, other kids, or you as a teenager
  
  
• constant nagging, lecturing or moralising
  
  
• being put down (“You’re a clumsy fool, just like your father,” isn’t helpful)
  
  
• being flippantly dismissed or ignored.

Foster your teenager’s self-esteem by:

• listening to them
  
  
• trusting them
  
  
• respecting them
  
  
• well-timed words and actions which say, “You are a capable and competent person: your assets and strengths show.”