Why Self- Esteem?
Research has found that low self-esteem and self-worth is a major challenge facing young people today and is significantly impacting them in a variety of ways. See the data below regarding both teens and self-esteem.
Low self-esteem has been linked to violent behavior, school dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement. Source: Alexandra Delis-Abrams, Ph.D. http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Abrams1.html
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a worldwide research reports that more deaths are caused by suicide every year than homicide or war. Source: Alexandra Delis-Abrams, Ph.D. http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Abrams1.html
Low self-esteem is the universal common denominator among literally all people suffering from addictions to any and all mind altering substances such as alcohol, not genes. In the book Alcoholism: A False Stigma: Low Self-Esteem the True Disease, (1996) Candito reports, “Those who have identified themselves as “recovered alcoholics” indicate that low self-esteem is the most significant problem in their lives.”
Sheriff Block of Los Angeles County stated, “Children join gangs to fulfill the need to belong and the need to feel important. They want to be somebody rather than be a nobody. We must focus on enhancing the self-worth and self-esteem of young people so that they do not seek out and need the gang to satisfy these most basic human needs.”
Self-esteem statistics also show that where self-esteem programs have been introduced into the school setting, it has been found that such programs can significantly reduce the incidence of anti-social behavior in schools, as well as reduce vandalism and the incidents of verbal or physical aggression by 40-50%. (Reasoner,1992, Borba, 1999).
Hayes and Fors (1990) report that lower self esteem is often the reason why young girls engage in premarital sexual relationships and is more likely to be responsible for teen pregnancies than any other single factor. They found that as self-esteem decreases, sexual attitudes and behavior become more permissive.
DoSomething.Org found that 75% of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities like cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking, or disordered eating. This compares to 25% of girls with high self-esteem.
Bullying | Leadership | Mental Health: Anxiety, Depression & Suicide | Social Media: Not needing validation of self-worth online | Prevention: Substance Abuse & Self-Harm | Academic Success | Sexual Health: Teen Pregnancy, STD’s & Promiscuity | Goal Setting: Preparedness For Life After School | Gang Violence
The impact of the Attitude Is Everything program is measured using our proprietary survey. The survey questions were developed by Dr. Morris Rosenberg (known as the Rosenberg self-esteem scale or RSES) as a self-esteem measure and are widely used in social-science research. The RSES is considered a reliable and valid quantitative tool for self-esteem assessment and is extensively used in cross-cultural studies in up to 53 different nations. The results of this survey help us track the areas we are making a difference in while also targeting the ways in which we can improve so that we may better serve future participants.
The Attitude Is Everything Foundation has been formed to transform the lives of young people through live events, curriculums and by partnering with major non-profit foundations who can give on-going in person support through their local chapters and programs. We receive thousands of emails, letters and messages online from parents, educators, celebrities and young people about the life changing impact our program is having across the country. Please take a look for yourself by visiting www.JesseLeBeau.com