Complexes in childhood

"Mom, am I fat? In school they call me whale, they tell me I'm short ... they do not let me play football because they say I'm too clumsy ...". These comments, innocent many times, may be covering something more serious as complexes. Having complex of chubby, short, very tall, with glasses, teeth ..

"Mom, am I fat? In school they call me whale, they tell me I'm short ... they do not let me play football because they say I'm too clumsy ...". These comments, innocent many times, may be covering something more serious as complexes. Having complex of chubby, short, very tall, with glasses, teeth ... means that children are judged and valued by a particular aspect of their physique that the environment tells you "is not normal." These comments can affect the self-esteem and self-concept of children, giving rise to what we call complexes in childhood.

How does self-concept evolve in childhood?

-Self-awareness in children begins to form from early childhood (from 0 to 2 years old). Children progressively become aware of themselves from very young, and social interactions are very important in this process.

- After 2 years self-concept begins to form, which has to do with the image they have of themselves and refers to the characteristics they use to define themselves and to differentiate themselves from others and it is a construction process on the part of the child throughout its development that begins to be defined in childhood. In this process, both the level of cognitive development of the child and social experiences are very important (family and school here are very important).

- Between 3-4 years the descriptions of themselves are usually very simple and global, in terms of being good, bad, big or small. Later, and before 6 years old, it becomes more complex, a girl can think that she is good at one things and bad at others, (I am good at painting but bad at reading).

At these ages, the descriptions that children usually make are very related to physical attributes, (I have long hair, I am tall, low ...) and it is not an elaborate self-concept, nor are they compared with the rest of the children. children. In these ages, therefore, the information obtained from outside is very important, both parents, teachers and schoolmates. What they think about them is fundamental to build that self-concept.

- From 6 to 12 years old la, the construction of this knowledge about themselves continues to grow and the assessment they make of themselves greatly evolves. At this stage, it is important to bear in mind that those descriptions that they make of themselves, are acquiring stability, that is, it is no longer a "one day I was bad because I hit my friend", but, a "I'm bad because I hit" with a more stable character in the child.-

Between 6 and 8 years , the descriptions that they make of themselves are getting thinner, they compare themselves, (I used to like this and now I do not like anything), and the self is the main one reference element, (I get very happy when my friends come to play).-

Between 8 and 12 years old, interpersonal relationships are particularly important and comparisons with other children become more evident. That is, the image that is being built has more and more elements that come from what others think or think of them, and begin to value both positively and negatively (I'm good at math but I miss the language, I have friends but Juan has more than me). Self-esteem is built as well as self-concept from early childhood and is gradually becoming more complex as the development progresses.What are the most common childhood complexes?

Complexes can appear from very early ages, and

affect the self-esteem and self-concept of the child por, so it is important to pay attention to what the children tell us or their mood.

These complexes can be related to the physical, (be tall or be low, wear glasses, be more or less chubby, be good at certain activities or not), or academic, ("I'm dumb because I read bad or get bad grades "). or with the social, ("I do not have friends because I behave badly, nobody wants to play with me" ...)