As we explore Chapter 6: Take Care of Yourself in Onward this month, I have been researching ways to build self-esteem. And in this month of November, also the month of giving, I found this research to be interesting. The research was focused on teens and found that “The study, published in December in the Journal of Adolescence, suggests that altruistic behaviors, including large and small acts of kindness, may raise teens’ feelings of self-worth. However, not all helping behaviors are the same. The researchers found that adolescents who assisted strangers reported higher self-esteem one year later.” SO to me this is like a win-win. How awesome that as you take care of yourself and build your self-esteem, you are also taking care of someone else! Find an opportunity this month to reach out and help a stranger and take note of the effect it has on you.
Read NPR’s, Helping Strangers May Help Teens’ Self-Esteem, to get the whole story. For this of you that work with high school students, there are some great resources in the article too that would be great to share with your students. And lead by example…go out an make a difference in a stranger’s life…you will actually be doing yourself some good too!