It’s no secret, teenage years are often difficult for young people. Hormones, changing schools, shifting friend groups, social media and puberty make for a confusing and frustrating period of time. This has a huge impact on self esteem, which in turn affects how teenagers show up in their lives, and how they feel about their futures.

Mental health of teenagers was already of great concern before Coronavirus. But with the enforced loneliness, lack of social interaction, and more time on the internet than ever before, the impact on teen wellbeing is unprecedented.

The numbers speak for themselves.

  • In a recent Statista survey, 94 percent of young people said their self-esteem was affected when they struggled with their mental health.
  • 70 percent of girls ages 15-17 avoid day to day activities when they feel insecure about their appearance.
  • 9 out of 10 girls in the UK and Ireland risk their health by skipping meals, or not seeing a doctor about low body self esteem

These statistics need to change, but how can we help our young people feel more confident in themselves and their abilities?

 

Talk about social media safety

While social media has made friendships and relationships a lot easier during the pandemic, some use social platforms to be hateful with anonymity. 7 in 10 young people report experiencing bullying through social media.

The way to tackle this is not to enforce restrictions on the use of these platforms, but to encourage young people to speak up about what they see and experience online. Whether they confide in parents, or during a one to one session at school, getting teens to speak up about misuse of social media is crucial to tackling self esteem issues.

Some schools benefit from full class interactive sessions about these topics, but for those being bullied, one to one talks would offer a better chance of tapping into what’s going on outside the school walls.

Teaching about the processes of reporting comments and accounts online is also a great step to giving those feeling attacked power and control over their circumstances. Statistics show that young people want this too; 84% of young people support safe social media being taught in school.

 

Encourage young people to recognise their achievements

Recognising and praising teens for their achievements is part of teaching and building up their confidence. But actively encouraging them to recognise their own achievements boosts their self esteem even further.

One way to do this is to encourage them to write down three things they’ve done well at the end of each day. These can include academic, creative, personal or social achievements, great or small. Each of these is as significant as the rest.

The act of writing the thought down itself instils the recognition, and the sense of achievement. Each of these builds up and helps build confidence, which drips through to other areas of their self perspective.

Praising these positive behaviours can help them persevere with challenges, take on learning new skills, and improve their self esteem; especially if used from a young age. (kidsintransitiontoschool.org)

 

Help them track their mood

Giving young people a chart they can personalise and fill in to keep track of their mood is a great way to help young people recognise what affects their mental health. Each day that’s filled in, along with a brief description of outside circumstances, helps identify things that need changing or events the teenager finds troubling. Visualising their mood and taking it from something uncontrollable inside themselves to something outside of themselves can also help them to look at their experience more objectively.

Reviewing these, either with the young person or them doing it individually, can help them identify what they need to change or deal with in order to reduce the amount of down days they experience. Helping them feel in control and proactive in their own health is a great way to teach them their own agency and potential.

Encourage young people to track their mood at set time intervals that stay the same, to best identify the patterns in mood. (healthshots.com)

This is a practice that is based around mental health, as there is a strong link to self esteem and mental health. Boosting one boosts the other.

 

Seek out an early intervention policy for your school

Tackling the early signs of anxiety, depression, and low self esteem is key to improving mental wellbeing.

We’re on a mission to make mental health support and early childhood intervention accessible for young people in secondary schools across the UK and Ireland. With this in mind, it’s important for us to recognise the role of early intervention in secondary schools in this blog about teen self esteem.

We’re passionate about it for good reason.

  • Half of mental health problems start by the age of 14 (The Children’s Society)
  • Almost 400,000 children sought mental health help during the pandemic (Telegraph, 2021)
  • Due to the pandemic, around 1.5 million children could need extra mental health support (Telegraph, 2021)
  • Young people need more support with their mental health at the time it starts to present, now more than ever. Early intervention has so many benefits:

“Intervention is not only critical for preventing or reducing the progress of a mental illness, but for improving a person’s mental and physical health, community participation and socioeconomic outcomes far into the future.” – Health.vic

 

Interested in how you can best implement early intervention policies, and action them in your school? Get in touch.