Teaching our pupils self-esteem

SELF-acceptance and self-esteem are things people have traditionally not been taught in schools.

The Department of Basic Education is incorporating the Dove Self-Esteem Project into the school curriculum to ensure that learners are taught these values from a young age.

The self-esteem syllabus will be rolled out at schools across the country to empower South Africans – with a special focus on girls – to embrace body positivity as part of their life-orentation lessons.

Dr Tshepiso Matentjie, an education psychologist who helped develop the programme for local schools, said a pilot project had already been started at some schools in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Now, she said, they want to include more schools and also extend the programme to outside the schools.

“Kids don’t just face self-esteem issues at school.

“So we want the conversation to also include the community.

“Their parents need to be taught ways to support their children as well,” Matentjie said.

The programme is aimed at learners aged between eight and 17, whom Matentjie said were at a crucial stage of development and also much more concerned with their appearance.

“Children want to fit in. They want to be liked by boys. They also want to be liked by their peers.

“If you get them at that age and strengthen their sense of being, it is harder to break them down when they are older. Teaching children the importance of self-image and self-esteem at a young age might help us deal with instances of children who fall pregnant at an early age.

“What makes these kids vulnerable so that they have unprotected sex at this age is because they need a sense of belonging or to be given love.

“There are certain things that we know young girls become vulnerable to because of how they are raised and socialised.

Said Education Minister Angie Motshekga: “Programmes to expose learners at the earliest stages of primary school to various tools and resources should be supported.

“Which is why we’re so excited to work with Unilever, through its brand Dove, to equip learners emotionally,” the minister said.

She pointed out that encouraging them to stay at school would help pupils build resilience to life’s adversities and aspire to be more despite these challenges.”

Through the proactive measures, issues pertaining to sexuality, alcohol and violence, education and mentorship, sexual and reproductive health and career guidance could be addressed and alleviated, Motshekga pointed out.

Matentjie said it was important for girls to learn that they were important.

“If we have children who know that they are important and matter, we can change their lives. If they believe in themselves, then they can continue that task, and imagine how far they can go when they grow up!”

Matentjie said society needed to move on from not teaching children self-esteem.

“It has to be a concerted effort to have the conversation. Girls cannot automatically build self-esteem – we have to cultivate it,” Matentjie said.

Kids don’t just face self-esteem issues at school. We want the conversation to include the community. And parents need to be taught ways to support them Dr Tshepiso Matentjie Education Phsychologist