Self-esteem and confidence play a crucial role in a young person’s development, shaping their mental well-being, academic success, and social interactions. Yet, many young people struggle with low self-esteem, which can impact their future opportunities and overall happiness.
A survey by UK GOV found that a third to a half of adolescents struggle with low self esteem.
Additionally, the Mental Health Foundation found that body image is a huge worry for 16-25 year olds, identifying it as the third biggest challenge currently causing harm to young people, with lack of employment opportunities and failure to success in education the first two.
Self-esteem is influenced by several factors, including:
Social Media – Not a surprise to many, but the pressure to present a ‘perfect’ life, or at least a specifically curated one online can lead to negative self-comparisons.
The internet has provided everyone, especially young people, with so much information and content that wasn’t possible to view 40-50 years ago and whilst access to so much has its perks, such as connecting with others, studies show that four out of five young people feel social media platforms make their feeling of anxiety worse.
Academic Pressure – We all want our children to have the most comfortable, successful and happy life but the emphasis on grades and performance can make young people feel inadequate when they struggle in or simply don’t enjoy school.
This can be exacerbated by not having the right support for their own individual learning style or any additional needs eg Autism, ADHD.
Bullying & Peer Pressure – A report by Anti-Bullying Alliance found that 24% of UK students experience bullying, which significantly impacts self-worth (ABA, 2022).
With the evolution of the digital world, bullying has unfortunately seeped into that too with cyber bullying impacting 7 out of 10 young people.
Family & Environment – A supportive home environment fosters confidence, while critical or neglectful parenting can diminish self-esteem.
Unfortunately with an increase in demands, career and personal achievements, longer working hours, lack of familial or support network, many families find themselves struggling to juggle a fair work, life balance which can create distant in parents/carers and their young people.
At GRIT, we focus on solutions rather than the problem – empowering our young people to make positive steps to transform their struggles to move forward in life.
Here are some things we encourage our young people to consider and get more curious about.
Practice self-compassion
Young people often hold themselves to high, unrealistic standards. Teaching self-compassion—acknowledging mistakes without harsh self-judgment—helps develop resilience.
Reflecting on thoughts that are helpful or unhelpful, thinking about what is important to them and seeing if these thoughts, actions or beliefs are motivating and getting them to where they want to be.
Promote healthy social media use
Encouraging mindful social media habits, such as limiting screen time and following positive influences, can improve self-image and reduce comparison traps.
This is not an easy task as many of our young people say that being online is their ‘social identity’. Times have moved on from when we connected in person, knocking for friends and riding our bikes; being online furthers relationships and without it, can leave people feeling isolated.
Promoting healthy reflection with thoughts such as ‘is this helpful or harmful’ is a great curious question to discern whether how we use social media is beneficial or a hinderance.
Celebrate strengths, not just achievements
Helping young people recognise their skills and qualities—beyond academics or physical appearance—can reinforce their self-worth.
Creating bite size weekly goals with room for reflection and celebration at the end of the week can increase confidence and build on strengths.
Consider setting 3 smaller tasks, 1 larger task and 1 thing to work towards for the week, with a goal to review on Sunday. For example the three smaller tasks could be committing to drinking 2L of water everyday, reading 2 pages of a book and listening to a podcast, the larger task could be to organise a bedside table and the 1 thing to work towards could be a goal, such as going to university and so make a plan of action of what you will do to achieve that and then adding those smaller and larger tasks into upcoming weeks.
It is amazing what feeling accomplishments can do for the body – particularly those of us who are dopamine seeking!
Provide opportunities for growth
Participating in extracurricular activities, volunteering, or learning new skills can empower young people and boost confidence through achievement.
It is important to continuously edge slightly outside of our comfort zone in order to grow, even though it can feel quite overwhelming initially.
Encouraging your young person to think about things that interest or inspire them to build skills and confidence, reduces anxiety or worry as their passion for that interest outweighs to unknown.
Open conversations about self-esteem
Having honest discussions about self-worth at home and in schools normalises struggles with confidence and encourages seeking support when needed.
Our young people will often notice how we speak to ourselves so it could be a point of reflection within your family home as to how you speak about yourself and encouraging positive language about our bodies, minds, purpose, goals etc.
Schools and youth organisations play a vital role in combatting low self-esteem.
Research from BMC Public Health shares this belief with findings indicating a positive school environment were associated with reduced symptoms of depression, stress, improved self esteem and academic performance. Encouraging peer support programs, mentoring, and resilience workshops can make a significant difference.
Which is why we feel so fortunate at GRIT to be operating in the mainstream secondary schools in Hitchin and Letchworth to nurture a better environment for our young people by supporting them directly and with a mentoring programme in Letchworth, which is supporting teachers and a peer to peer system.
Building self-esteem is a continuous process that requires patience, encouragement, and the right support systems. By addressing the societal pressures and personal challenges young people face, we can help them develop the confidence they need to thrive.
For further support, organisations such as YoungMinds, The Mix, and Mind offer valuable resources for young people struggling with self-esteem issues.
Or if a young person you know is struggling with their self esteem and it is impacting their mental health and wellbeing, we are here for them.
If they could benefit from our services, please fill out our referral form.
