Parents beware your kid’s Age Affects Self-Esteem. Look at the calendar and see when your children were born, as a small difference of a few months in a calendar can have a dramatic effect on your child’s self-esteem. so be aware of age affects Self-Esteem.
A Month Difference Can Make All The Difference
In his book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell write that professional football players are dis-proportionally born around September, October, November, and December in a year calendar. Why is that?
Gladwell explains that children born in these months have an unfair advantage over their peers born towards the end of the academic year (i.e., June, July, and August) since they have almost a year older than their peers.
This is to say that they are a year smarter and physically more developed. Not surprisingly, they do better in tests, sports, and school overall than their younger counterparts. In the long-run, this small difference can affect a child’s self-esteem accumulate into a snowball effect of “I’m not good or smart enough.”
As such, considering that in most countries, school starts on the first of September, a month difference between being born in August and September can be the difference between what class your child will go affecting in terms of the rest of their lives.
Negative Self-Esteem Difference
As the saying goes, “Knowing is half of the battle.” Now, lets put these simple knowledge into action. So your child was born in September instead of August? No problem. Technically, they will be the youngest student in their class, meaning that everyone else will seem smarter and better than they are, but only to the point that your child is unaware of a difference.
This being said, schools and universities are created for average students. To be good, it is not difficult if a child knows that, with minimal extra effort, they can be the best in the class.
Similarly, by informing your child about this study discrepancy and showing support, care, and reinforcing their belief that you are unique, that can win in education, despite having this birth time limitation.
Your child needs strong role models, and as a parent, it is your moral obligation to be that model. Be that parent you always wanted to be and home school your child the information they might miss at school.
Take a Close Look at Your Life
It is also interesting to look back at your own life to understand whether your birth month affected your school performance. Of course, most people won’t be affected by this difference, but some will. Many other factors could have affected your performance in school and life, but this simple and innocent birth time-related factor can be the difference between having a high and low age affects Self-Esteem.
