Confidence: Spiderman Backpacks Increase Teen’s Self Esteem

me • beauty & fashion • parenting • ages and stages

by Mom It Forward on September 29th, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Confidence—Before the first day of school each year, I give my four children the chance to go through a bin of recycled backpacks. My daughter, a ninth grader, informed me that she didn't need one. She had taken the initiative to buy her own and this backpack proudly displayed Spiderman!

You heard me right. My 14 yearold daughter is gracing the halls of her new charter high school with a Spiderman backpack. Her cousin, who is going with her, chose Phineous & Ferb.

I am amazed at how brave these two kids are. They decided to walk into a new situation confident, self assured, and unafraid of the unknowns.

At registration, instead of hanging back and being afraid, my daughter immediately ran up to people she knew an gave them all hugs. For people she didn't know, she stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, my name is Jessica!" I was so proud of my daughter in this moment. People gravitate towards happy, positive people. All the times I told her that she was smart, kind, and beautiful had prepared her for this moment.

Since school began, more and more high school kids are sporting new action figure back packs. This is because two kids stood up for what they wanted to do, and didn't care what other people thought of them.