Factors Affecting Adolescent Self-Esteem And Supporting Adolescents With Special Educational Needs In An Essay.

1.Adolescent self-esteem: consider the factors that cause or predict high or low self-esteem during adolescence and the possible consequences of low self-esteem. Discuss what teachers can do to encourage the development of positive self-esteem during the important developmental period of adolescence.

2.Transition to secondary schools for adolescents with a history of special educational needs: What additional challenges do these young people experience concerning their academic and socio-emotional development? How can their teachers and families support them? 

Factors that cause or predict high or low self-esteem during adolescence

Adolescence is a transition stage from childhood to adulthood. It is indeed a very critical stage as a positive or negative development of adolescent during this stage will also influence their future in either way. According to Steiger et al. (2014), adolescent or the teens develop a low or high self-esteem depending on the various external circumstances where they are being nurtured. There are factors which produce a positive impact on the self-esteem whereas many factors do not. Those many factors cause the development of low self-esteem in teens. The kinds of self-esteem which teens carry do produce relevant consequences on their lives and the surrounding society that they live in. Following factors may produce a negative impact on teens and thereby, encourage them to develop a low self-esteem in them:  

Personal appearance-

It is one of the factors that significantly impact the development of one’s confidence in their own capabilities. Teens may differ with their peers in appearance due to different factors like the physique or the body image. This is also important how teens are attracted to such comparisons. They may be compared with the most popular friends of theirs or the other peers. There can be various factors that compel for such comparison. Personal appearance is one of such factors that adolescents consider while comparing them with the others (Wang et al. 2016). If one of the peers is popular for their good look then the observer may feel inferior to the peer. This is just one of the examples that encourage teens to make a comparison in them. Suppose, one of the members of a team gets high respect from the management then others who are on the same team might be wondering what has made the difference. Additionally, if they get to know that one of the qualities of such preference was a creative thinking then few of the team members might start comparing with the person in concern. Few of them may also develop a feeling of inferiority to their peer as they are not as creative as the person in concern. They might then start running for the same quality and if somehow they are not able to bring the desired changes, they may fill with low confidence (Wang et al. 2016).          

Social environment-

A social environment where teens live into does have an impact on their personal development. If they are being loved by their families and also have cooperating friends in universities, their self-esteem may be higher. On the other hand, if they are being nurtured by critical parents and have few peers, who tease or shun them, then they might have low self-esteem in them (Ferro and Boyle 2015). It really matters a lot that with whom the teens interact to. Peers interact with different groups in different places like they interact with their families or their peers and the educators. It is really critical for teens that what kinds of response they get from the others (Ferro and Boyle 2015).

Possible consequences of low self-esteem in adolescents

Performance-   

Performance may not bother to some teens while on the other hand; some teens may be strongly connected to their performance. For example, failing in Science may not matter to some whereas it can relay undone the others. Again, if they get selected for a kind of competition or a sports event then they might feel valued. On the other hand, if they do not get selected they feel undone and completely dejected. They might start thinking that they are less competent to others which is why they have been rejected by the selection panel (Duchesne et al. 2017). In the very same context, others can feel that it is not for them; they are indeed good for other activities.

Perception-    

This is very vital because it is the perception that compels for a positive or a negative frame of mind. Irrespective of the society where teens live in, it really depends on them how they take different things (Smokowski et al. 2014). For example, if one does not get selected for a sports team then its consequence depend solely on the person in concern. If the person gets demoralized due to not getting selected, then the person may develop a low self-esteem. On the other hand, if the other person being in the same situation thinks that it does not matter because their skills is suitable for some other kind of activities then the consequence can be different.   

The possible consequences of low self-esteem:

There can be several consequences of adolescents being low in self-esteem. Following is few of such possible consequences (Marshall et al. 2015): 

Reduced happiness in life-

When teens are low with self-esteem they might be taking things negatively. They might not feel happy when there are moments of celebration at homes. They may feel being isolated from their family. This is not only a curse for the person but, also for the entire family or the surrounding society (Birkeland, Breivik and Wold 2014).

Life is less worthwhile-

Low self-esteem can lead to depression in some cases which are itself very fatalistic and can lead to destructive consequences like suicidal tendencies (Fanti and Henrich 2015).

Self-destructive tendencies-

This is also possible when people have a tendency in them to construct negative perception. They are bound to take things negatively which may lead to destructive tendencies like suicidal cases. On the other hand, if people have a tendency to construct positive perception in irrespective of the circumstances they are bound to take things in positive ways (Yip 2015). Getting used to constructing negative perceptions for irrespective of the surrounding circumstances may push teens to destruction.

Challenges faced by adolescents with special educational needs during transition to secondary schools

Low in confidence-

Low self-esteem can also hamper the confidence level which is never a good sign for teens for their career. The adolescent stage is a transition stage from childhood to adulthood. This is why it is important that teens are full of confident, so that, they perform better at their universities or in the future (Duchesne et al. 2017). However, if they are more prone to the negative perception they are expected to be low in confidence. Low confidence can be fatalistic for teen’s future. They have a lot to prove in their future ahead. On the other hand, the life post-teenage stage is not so easy and does offer a bundle of challenges. A positive and a confident approach to different challenges can only certain the success (Duchesne et al. 2017).

Reduced success in life-

The tendency to be low in confidence due to low self-esteem does discourage to take up the challenges or innovative approaches. Nevertheless, exposure to potential opportunities may then be reduced and hence, the bearer of the quality may be deprived of many successes in their lives (Yip 2015).   

Stress and anxiety-

Teens with low self-esteem in them tend to resist them from taking up the challenges. They build up a perception that they rarely can do anything. Such thought process ends up being surrounded by stress and anxiety. People with stress and anxiety are less prone to feel the happier moments. A life full of stress and anxiety can lead to destructive consequences like the suicidal cases (Fanti and Henrich 2015).   

Less pleasant social interactions-

When teens are low in self-esteem due to their unconfident approach to different thing, they are likely to feel disconnected from social interactions. Social interactions can be smoother if someone is full of confidence and does not have any inferior feeling to others. People with low self-esteem confined them just to a smaller world where they wish to live alone or with whom they are comfortable with. A less pleasant social interaction can lead to fatalistic consequences (Duchesne et al. 2017). For an example, employees work in a team for a particular project. If few or one of the team members is low in confidence and is inferior to other members of the team then the person might feel restricted with resources. This is due to a fact that approachability in such cases gets reduced. A member with low self-esteem is expected to limit their approaches for even important reasons. Such practices can harm the person in concern and also the entire team’s productivity.      

Ways teachers can encourage positive self-esteem among adolescents

The development of positive self-esteem depends a lot on the parents or the other family members, the peers and the school teachers. Adolescence, as discussed earlier, is a transition stage from childhood to adulthood. This is indeed a very critical stage and everybody who have their interactions to such teens due to distinguished purposes; they can play effective roles in promoting a positive frame of mind (Shoshani and Steinmetz 2014). Teens spend their significant time in schools. They interact with different kinds of teachers while being in the school. It really indicates towards a fact that teachers can play important roles in developing a positive frame of mind in teens.

Teachers have the capabilities to identify the differences in their different students. They might find some teens as to have low self-esteem may be because of the unexpected atmosphere at homes or due to some other reasons also. Teachers in such case may influence the behavior of such students. The influence can be both positive and negative depending on the actions that the teachers take in different situations (Pesu, Viljaranta and Aunola 2016). However, it is indeed necessary that teachers are little careful while dealing with students who are low in self-esteem. They can help such students in following ways (Pesu, Viljaranta and Aunola 2016):

Avoiding the formation of an unsupportive environment in schools-     

This is really challenging and cannot just be undone with the help of teachers but, this indeed requires a real assistance from the school admin, the parents and the students themselves. However, teachers can still do a lot of things to promote a positive atmosphere at least in the classroom. They may motivate other students to generously interact to certain identified low-esteemed students. The teacher can teach the other students the benefits of being into discipline. A disciplined classroom is necessary to avoid any bullying activity which is one of the major resources to the development of low-esteem values in some students (Willis and Nagel 2015). Additionally, if some of the students are bullying few students in the classroom or in the university’s premise and if it is being reported to the respective teachers then teachers need to show utmost concerns to the fact. Teachers may try to control on their own and if that does not make the difference then it is advisable to report the incident to the concerned department.

Counselling the students having low self-esteem-     

Ways families can support adolescents with special educational needs

Teachers can also play the role of a counsellor if they have the relevant expertise or they can also approach a counsellor specifically being designed for the job. It is the responsibilities of teachers that they identify the severity of the incident and report it to the respective counsellor. Teachers may also contribute to the fact by describing the case in detail like what has happened or how it is fatalistic to students of concern. Counselling is required to those students who are being bullied by others. Both the things like stopping the bullying cases and counselling the low-esteemed students are important. Counselling is important because it may be helpful for students who have been developing the negative frame of mind (Ricard and Pelletier 2016). It is indeed important that students who are identified as low-esteemed people need to be put to counselling. Counselling can help to overcome the negative frame of mind. Such students may be able to realise what is needed to be done in challenging situations or how to avoid the development of negative consequences. They may be motivated to be positive in oddest of situations.

Sharing few encouraging experiences-

Teachers can also share their own experiences like what they had done in situations similar to this. Students may then be able to understand the strategies which are helpful in such situations. They may get to know a number of skills that the teacher themselves had taken when they were being into the similar situation. Such stories may encourage a similar approach if students have respect for their teachers (Herres and Kobak 2015).

2.1 Describing the challenges that these young people experience concerning their academic and socio-emotional development:

Teens during their transition to secondary schools with a history of special educational needs may face several challenges in the form of academic, social and emotional developments. Following is the discussion of what could be the possible challenges to teens:

Challenges related to academic-

Teens with a history of special educational needs, requires having a supportive and learning environment in universities, so that, they could concentrate on the lectures and can work on their weaknesses with the help of teachers and peers. However, if it does not get a supportive environment then negative consequences can also happen (Ong et al. 2018). This section is specifically concerned with the number of challenges that students with poor results in schools may face if they do not get an ideal study environment in universities.

Personal appearance

The academic development can be hampered if teachers are not very concerned with those students. Such students may find that teachers are not very helpful and are friendly with those who are good in study. The moment they start thinking such thing, they push them towards a stage where things are taken negatively (Guhn et al. 2016). It is not an ideal move for average rated students. They had needed an atmosphere where teachers and other peers are cooperative in nature.

Consequently, they may be restricting them from taking up the challenges. They may miss the opportunity and hence, their learning may be hampered. They may feel hesitated to ask a query which may be genuine also and in this way, they are only doing their harm. Students with average performance in schools need to have an enlarged exposure to challenging tasks, so that, they could avail the moments of learning. Such habits may also not let the teachers know of their weakness (Guhn et al. 2016). There may be some teachers who are really good but, they do not know anything about average students. It is necessary that they have information on such students, so that, they could make a specific plan for such student and help them groom in their academics.  

Challenges related to social development-

Apart from challenges to academic development, adolescents with average records in schools may also face challenges to their social development. They find circumstances which are not suitable to their social growth. They tend to carry the same image that they have developed in schools. The struggle in universities also and find it difficult to understand the course syllabus. Consequently, they find that there are others who are well versed in the course syllabus and are performing well. Those performers are getting the appreciation from teachers. However, on the other hand, the average students struggle to make any such impression. Such tendency lowers them down in the class and they start carrying a perception that they can never be able to impress the teachers. Consequently, they get haunted by low self-esteem (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016).

Another significant challenge that hampers the social development of teens with average performance standard is the peer pressure.  Peer pressure can be both positive and negative. If other peers are good and encourage for good things like studying and taking part in extracurricular activities, it helps teens to develop a positive thinking in them. On the other hand, if few of the peers are not good and addicted of bad habits like smoking, using drugs, drinking and others then they may influence the teens for such bad things (Raptis and Spanaki 2017). An addiction to such habits is nothing but, becoming a socially boycotted human being, a person who do not get respects from the society they live in.    

Social environment

Drug abuse is a real threat to teens. This may produce fatalistic consequences which may not be acceptable to the society. A drug is an abuse not for education only but, also for their personal lives as well. Parents may notice some uncommon practice from their teenagers. Such changes may also worry their parents. They may come across a challenge which they wanted not to be (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016). In a similar way, drinking is another bad thing that prevents a proper social development of teens at their transition times in secondary schools. A person who is drunk does not have any control over their behavior. They may do things which they could have never done, had they been in full control (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016). Another challenge in secondary schools could be the teens involving in sex cases. They may get peers who are bad in nature and encourage students for unsocial things. If students get influenced by them, they may certainly be close to having sex in teen ages. Such practices are potentially harmful and can lead to few potential diseases like the sexually transmitted diseases (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016).

Such addictions may also encourage teens to occasionally feel unhappy. They may be unhappy for several reasons like they have not been able to perform well due to their addiction to bad habits. If such state continues for two weeks they may start experiencing some other symptoms of depression. Depression is a complete loss of students who had been sent to secondary schools to improve their academic and socio-emotional status (Raptis and Spanaki 2017). They may be destroying their personal life from every aspect. At the same time, they may also be worrying their families and the teachers. Their families had sent them to secondary schools, so that, teens could develop their academic, social and emotional characteristics. Instead, teens have become worse.

Challenges related to emotional development-

If circumstances are not favourable and teens get influenced from students who have an addiction to unsocial activities they may also be in danger and destroy their development as a student and as a person (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016). An addiction to abusive elements like smoking, tobacco, drugs, and drinks may be dangerous for the academic, social and emotional development. Parents may also be able to notice the changes. Threatening emotional challenges may be as follows (Yan, Zhou and Ansari 2016):  

Performance

- Parents may be observing their kids showing a changed emotion or perhaps an intense emotion at different times. Moods might appear as unpredictable to them. These emotional changes might also cause conflict in the family. Notably, this is still the age of learning for teens who have been sent to secondary schools, so that, they could improve their academics and also the socio-emotional development.

- Teens could also be found with changed facial and body behaviour. The change in body behaviour is a clear indication of an emotional makeover in just a very short span of time.

- Teens may also be emotionally attached to their personal appearances. They might feel inferior to their peers and friends because their personal appearances are not as good as their peers and friends. Such emotional behaviour is serious to personality development and can significantly reduce self-esteem in teens.

- Emotional damage is not just limited to few of the changes that have been mentioned in the aforesaid section, it may produce some other emotional changes as well. Teens who have been destroying their emotional development due to being in touch with the average students in secondary schools may be found as spending less time with their family and more with friends. This kind of change is also threatening for the emotional development of teens. Spending time with friends is not bad but, spending more time with them and less with the family is something which should not happen. Friends can be either good or bad; however, families are always keen on teaching their teens the good thing. In the given context, it is not a healthy sign that students spend their much of time with the friends. 

2.2 Role of teachers and families in supporting them:

Role of teachers-

Teachers may also play important roles in helping such teens. Teens with special needs require extra support and care of the teacher. They may not be like other teens in the class, but, if given proper care, they can also perform well. Teachers need to give extra cares to such teens while giving a lecture or teaching some important topic. They can give extra effort to politely make teens understand what has been taught in the class. By giving some extra cares, they may be able to form a strong bonding with ‘special needs’ students and hence, they may help them to deliver their performance (Cook et al. 2017).

Perception

A strong bonding with such students may also help them to develop their social understanding. Teachers may proactively call upon others and introduce with the special needs teens. This will help those students understand the importance of meeting and having some talks. They will get to know that to be in the society, it is necessary that they have the friendship with others (Kiemer et al. 2015). Teachers may also highlight their interactions with other students and teachers in the classroom or in the school premise in front of teens who need extra cares. Such activities may help teens to develop a perception that it is important to be social, so that, effective communication could be developed at anywhere in this world (Kiemer et al. 2015).  

Teachers may help those ‘special needs’ students by letting them know the examples of their social and emotional awareness. It will help students understand the importance of being social and emotional. They will also get to know the tricks about how to develop their life, so that, they have a balanced social awareness as well as a balanced emotion (Garcia-Reid, Peterson and Reid 2015). Teachers may be influential in different ways. Teachers can be influential by being a good teacher. They can also be inspirational by being a socially oriented person. They can also lay down the examples of a balanced emotion. If they pay extra attention to ‘special needs’ students, they may be supporting them for a much better and an improved life.     

Role of families-

Children with special needs require an extra care from their families. Such children need to be given extra care. This is because they have not been in such environment before or they have not received sufficient exposure to such atmosphere. Such children are not able to make friends easily (Cook et al. 2017). It does not mean that they do not get friends in schools. It rather means that they find this relatively tougher to make friends. This can also be the case that such students are not easily accepted in a peer group. Teens who miss a lot of their school due to their mental or physical sickness, are more prone to miss the attachment with the importance of making friends. Such students need extra cares about their families and teachers, so that, effective academic, social and emotional development could be promoted (Cook et al. 2017).

Families need to showcase them as a role model to such teens by maintaining positive relationships with children, friends, colleagues, and partners. Children will learn from their observance (Garcia-Reid, Peterson and Reid 2015). Families should know who their childhood friends are. They should show utmost concern to their friends and even calling them to homes. This will help such child to develop social awareness and the importance of being pleasant in society. Parents and the other family members need to listen to their child and do not interrupt them while they want to speak something. Parents need to talk to their teens about their habits in schools like smoking. They should give them the leverage to speak up without any hesitancy (Garcia-Reid, Peterson and Reid 2015). This may strengthen their relationship with their teens and hence, teens may feel comfortable to share what they have been asked for. Parents should also teach their teens about what is positive in them. Parents should also make their teens understand the importance of being positive in different circumstances. Such teachings would guide their teens when they're in secondary schools (Garcia-Reid, Peterson and Reid 2015).       

Reduced happiness in life

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