Recommend practical strategies that could be implemented to enhance self-esteem in grade 10 learners. In your answer, also indicate how that may benefit their social relationships in class.

Teenagers face many challenges related to self-awareness and self-esteem, which can seriously affect their mental health and overall well-being. The problem is made worse by the growing use of social media platforms as a way of communicating. Social media influencers who portray a surreal view of the world make it even more complicated. This can affect self-development and self-awareness in young people. In other words, their development in various aspects of life is influenced by many factors, including the media.

For example, many young people lose their uniqueness and individuality because they want to imitate what is often portrayed as an ideal image and lifestyle in the media and in social circles. Young people are at the formative stage of their development, so they tend to imitate certain behavioural traits to find space among friends or peers. This is because of the need to be appreciated and acknowledged. The more intense the behaviour being played out, the more desired feedback they receive from friends in their neighbourhood and online. In this way social media can have both negative and positive effects on the development of young people. It depends largely on how young people were raised in their families. Family values go a long way in establishing a foundation on which the world is approached and viewed. They are a moral cornerstone on which one may stand to withstand the adversity of the world we live in.

The same could be said about unequal power relations between boys and girls as manifested in societies. At home, this may be driven by strong cultural or religious beliefs about the roles of males and females in households. It comes as a mechanism to face the hostile world for our survival. However, it has serious consequences for how we continue to view our differences as males and females. It also informs the different roles allocated to the different genders in households and society. In worst case scenarios, femicide may be the consequence of entrenched unequal power relations between boys and girls in families and society. Unfortunately, these established negative norms and values can affect the development of self-esteem, self-awareness, self-confidence and self-development in both boys and girls.

Some young people may have their own personal preferences in relation to social and media influence, in the context of pursuing individualism and staying true to established social norms and values. For example, some girls may say it is their bodies and their rules when it comes to sexual relationships. They usually forget that their mental and physical development is not yet at the level where they can take informed decisions about matters of such magnitude. That is why many of them get carried away by what is portrayed in the media about social and sexual relationships. Incidents of gender-based violence, and the impact they have on the development of young people, especially emotional and psychological development, are always reported in the media, and the statistics are high as if nothing is being done about it. This also accounts for the high number of young people being sexually abused in communities.

That is why many young people walk the street without any claim to their self-esteem, self-confidence, individuality and positive personal preferences. They are in a big web of social norms that promote freedom of expression, unfortunately at the expense of good moral codes, and hence their continued vulnerability.

This problem also shows in class, where young people need to build relationships with peers for learning. Unfortunately, the existing campaigns and regulations seem ineffective as the problem continues. Something drastic must happen to deal with this problem. It is upon young people that change is inevitable.

[Adapted from https://selfimprovementmatters.com. Accessed on 28 January 2026]