So, self-esteem - what is it? Who rates me? I? Society? Friends?. Is it for life or “will it pass tomorrow”? What influences it and what does it depend on? Personal self-esteem is a person’s idea of ​​himself, of his strengths and weaknesses, of his role in society. We are not born with low or high self-esteem. Self-esteem is related to one of the human needs - self-affirmation. A person strives to find his place “under the sun”, to occupy a certain status in society, in order to feel confident in the eyes of others and his own. Self-esteem is divided into adequate and inadequate (overestimated, underestimated). With adequate self-esteem, a person’s opinion about himself coincides with the opinions of others. Through self-analysis, a person recognizes both positive and negative qualities in himself. It is customary to divide self-esteem into stable and unstable. The first type is very difficult to correct and does not change under the influence of external circumstances, the second type of self-esteem can be converted into adequate with the help of a specialist. Children, unlike adults, do not know how to evaluate themselves objectively; they perceive the situation intuitively. Self-esteem develops in a child under the influence of various factors. The main foundation is laid by significant adults (parents, grandparents). In infancy and early childhood, the child does not have his own image and is not familiar with the world around him. With the receipt of new experience and information from parents and peers, the child gradually learns his capabilities, while being guided by the positive or negative emotions coming from them, he learns to evaluate himself and his actions. As the child grows up, he perceives assessments more critically and learns to agree with them or protest. Up to 5-6 years of age, the main reference point for a child is assessment from adults: their approval/disapproval through words and facial expressions, gestures and intonations, give him the basis of his image. And if disapproval is heard from adults more often than praise, the child begins to evaluate himself negatively. By comparing himself with others, he either confirms his idea or refutes it. Both high and low self-esteem interfere with the harmonious development of the child. Such children stand out among their peers with their special, attention-grabbing behavior, they more often find themselves in conflict situations, which are resolved with the help of aggression, their peers do not understand them and bypass them, they do not like to be friends with such children, they become outcasts or try by any means to take a leading position. If a child’s self-esteem is low, then such children begin to experience negative experiences, suffer from failures, associating them with some external factors. The more communication a child has, the better he is able to realize his positive and negative sides, including changing his self-esteem. Important: support and goodwill from adults is very important for a child. It is adults who, with their consistency in upbringing, opinions and actions, are healthy guidelines for “good” or “bad”, an assessment of the child’s behavior, and not his personality - provides the basis for a healthy and confident self-esteem of the child. Praise the child more often for a good deed - this is the main incentive for him. The system of rewards and punishments must be adequate, and the requirements for the child must correspond to his age development. Observe the measure, explain to the child why you praise him or scold him. If a child is only praised, he will develop inflated self-esteem and egocentrism. On the other hand, constant criticism and devaluation of a child’s actions can lead to an inferiority complex, lack of confidence in one’s own strengths and capabilities, and this can undermine the child’s motivation to learn. Gradually, such a child will withdraw into himself and lose trust in the world around him, which is “hostile” to him. Shyness and suppression of one’s emotions result in internal conflict, which can lead to various psychosomatic diseases and.