Straight Platform Politics

The Self-Esteem Movement: Whatever Happened To Common Sense? Part 4

The self-esteem movement: The claims

Parents and teachers were led to believe that the wild claims of the self-esteem movement were true. Boosting self-esteem and protecting children from life’s adversities were of great importance. Unfortunately, the claims are not only bogus but have proven to be dangerous. See Part 3

Claim: High self-esteem will decrease crime. Research indicates: High self-esteem is more likely to be present in a person of aggression and violence than low self-esteem. Schools are now required to develop policies on how they will deal with bullying and how they will deal with the aggressive child – the bully. Is baseless self-esteem causing some children to become bullies?

Claim: High self-esteem will improve academic performance. Research indicates: If anything, it is the other way around. Namely, high academic performance will improve self-esteem. If boosting self-esteem improved academic performance, then American students should be at the top in international math and science tests. They are not and have not been so for years. They consistently have been at or near the bottom. They consistently, however, have been at the top in overrating their performances on these tests. See Part 2

Claim: High self-esteem will deter youth from getting into sex, drugs, and alcohol. Research indicates: High self-esteem leads to earlier sex, drug, and alcohol use. These youth seem to minimize the risks involved - what has happened to others will not happen to them. They have been raised in a protective bubble and have an unreal outlook on life.

Research also debunks the claims concerning correlations between high self-esteem and forming good relationships, reforming criminals, enhancing job performance, and improving how one deals with stress.

Roy Baumeister is a psychologist and a former advocate of the self-esteem movement. His research has debunked the claims of the movement and his advice is that nonprofits, policymakers, parents, teachers, and therapists should forget about self-esteem and invest in self-control.

Now that is common sense.

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The Self-Esteem Movement: Whatever Happened To Common Sense? Part 3

The self-esteem movement: The real world

School districts across the nation believed the wild claims of the self-esteem movement that boosting self-esteem was the cure for many social ills. Boosting self-esteem came first and academics came second. We now have a generation of poor academic performers who are out of touch with reality. But they do have high opinions of themselves. See Part 2

Parents and teachers thought they were doing right by guarding their children against criticism, correction, or anything negative. But criticism, correction, and negative feedback develop academic skills and build character. Empty, phony praise causes children to believe lies about themselves and their skills.

When these children graduate from high school with their straight-A report cards, they have a rude awakening in college. They are unprepared for the real world and are, unfortunately, emotionally fragile. Research has shown that more and more college students, not being able to handle criticism, are seeking counseling.

We have raised a generation that has an inflated sense of self and an inflated sense of entitlement, but is incapable of dealing with life’s problems and pressures. Pain and failure are not seen as opportunities for improvement, but as destructive attacks that must be avoided at all cost. It is no coincidence that this generation also has a higher incidence of depression.

Self-esteem and confidence are good traits if they have a real foundation. If they lack a true base, they are like a house of cards that will cause a life to be in shambles at the slightest wind of adversity.

John Vasconcellos, academic skills, academics, achievement, character, classroom, commom sense, compliments, correction, counseling, criticism, depression, do good, emotionally fragile, feel good, grade inflation, house of cards, negative feedback, new clothes, phony praise, poor academic performers, praise, reality, school districts, self-esteem, self-esteem movement, unreal