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How to increase self-esteem in teenagers
Have them receive a compliment — from each other
At the religion class I teach at my church, I tried an activity with my group of ninth grade boys. It was meant to be a casual icebreaker, but the outcome turned out much different than anticipated.
I called the activity “Spotlight". The concept is pretty simple. I asked for a volunteer, and that student was officially in the “spotlight". Then, I asked a question about him that the other boys had to answer.
Some of the questions were “What do you like most about him?” or “What is his best personality trait?” or “What would his best friend say about him?”
The intent was for the boys to get to know each other better and focus only on the positive aspects of whoever was in the spotlight.
The boys who volunteered seemed to like it. I heard answers such as “He is a really nice guy” or “He helped me in one of my hard classes”, or “He is really good at Fortnite” (which I found out is a huge compliment for a teenage boy). Their eyes lit up listening to the positive things their peers said about them. The activity was working as planned.
My intention was to have only three or four volunteers and then move on to something else.
