How to raise a self-confident child

A successful Czech psychologist tries to answer a question that is still alive among parents, teachers and psychologists: What can be understood as a healthy self-esteem in a child? The search for an answer naturally leads to the topic of upbringing and its influence on the child's personality. How, then, to raise an adequately self-confident child who does not doubt his own worth and rules through this confidence in himself and in his surroundings? Tomáš Novák uses examples from his consulting practice to document how authoritative, directive education, so protective, to the point of coddling, spawning, on the one hand, anxious personalities distorted by drill, on the other side of seemingly strong personalities, with artificially inflated self-esteem. Although the author acknowledges that no educational procedure offers a complete guarantee of success, he is inclined to the trend of so-called. relaxed parenting with detachment, promotes democratic parenting practices, "hardening" independence and emphasizes the importance of positive acceptance of the child.