Building self-esteem - camps

Camping Magazine, Jan-Feb, 1997 by Kris Lishner, Judy Myers

Like most aspects of self-concept and identity, self-esteem undergoes major revision and reorganization during adolescence. As teenagers start thinking abstractly, most can consider multiple characteristics and make more integrated judgments about their personal traits. For example, adolescents can translate groups of traits, such as organizational ability, being a good listener, high motivation, and goal orientation, into an evaluation of themselves as a leader.

The feedback children receive from their world is critically important in shaping their self-esteem. A child's self-esteem usually cannot be significantly changed by short-term experiences or events, but the relationships and environments encountered can be constructed to offer the best possible opportunities for developing positive self-esteem.

Dimensions of self-esteem

Developmentalists and researchers believe that different dimensions make up self-esteem. Coopersmith suggests four primary dimensions: competence, control, acceptance, and moral self-approval. Experts do not consider self-esteem's dimensions additive. A child lacking acceptance from people around her will not necessarily have positive self-esteem if she is fortunate enough to experience a high sense of competence due to other life experiences.

Competence

Camps most often serve - to 11-year-olds. These campers' feelings of adequacy or competence become the critical dimension that helps shape their self-esteem. They spend much of their time learning the basic skills, rules, routines, and values of their culture. Developing essential competence in these life skills is an organizing focus in children's lives as they move away from their family into the wider world. This development frequently occurs through formal schooling and community activities.

Harter describes several types of competence as potentially important to a child's self-evaluation: scholastic competence, athletic competence, peer acceptance, physical appearance, and behavioral conduct. Typical competencies for school-aged children include traditional life skills, such as reading, writing, getting good grades, managing time and money, and preparing to earn a living. They also include interpersonal skills and the ability to control their behavior, follow rules, and interpret social situations.

Recent studies suggest that some areas of competence contribute more significantly than others to self-esteem. Physical appearance and social acceptance have the greatest impact on 8- to 15-year-olds' self-esteem. Cognitive competence and behavioral conduct are also very important to this group's positive self-evaluation; however, self-esteem is most strongly affected in children who highly value physical appearance and social acceptability but feel inadequate or incompetent in those areas.

Success or competence in skills or areas not important to the child do not contribute significantly to their overall self-esteem. Many adults who work with youth incorrectly assume the value of some skills because they have not identified which skills are important to the child. Parents who encourage their child in specialized activities, and camps that believe they are strengthening campers' self-esteem by helping them develop skills in all program activities, should learn what skills the child thinks are important.