Letters policy: Send by e-mail to letters@gainesvilletimes.com (no attached files, please, which can contain viruses); fax to 770-532-0457; mail to The Times, P.O. Box 838, Gainesville, GA 30503; or click here for a form. Include full name, hometown and phone number for confirmation. They should be limited to one topic on issues of public interest and may be edited for content and length (limit of 500 words). Letters originating from other sources, those involving personal, business or legal disputes, poetry, expressions of faith or memorial tributes may be rejected. You may be limited to one letter per month, two on a single topic. Submitted items may be published in print, electronic or other forms. Letters, columns and cartoons express the opinions of the authors and not of The Times editorial board.
Readers are invited to submit letters pertaining to key issues and general observations concerning the election campaigns. However, we will not publish letters or submissions that directly endorse or criticize candidates for state or local offices, nor submissions from the candidates or their representatives.
I am writing in response to a column by John Rosemond published in The Times on Sept. 27 ("Self-Esteem is Destructive"). I was greatly disturbed by the article and any influence it might have on well-meaning parents.
At no point in the article, does Rosemond define self-esteem. It sounds as if he is speaking against traits such as arrogance and noisy conceit. I would be quick to agree that those traits are unacceptable and must be discouraged.
According to Dorothy Corkill Brings, in her book "Your Child's Self-Esteem," "self esteem is how a person feels about himself. It is a quiet sense of self-respect, a feeling of self-worth."
My experience, as both parent and a college professor, is that healthy self-esteem is absolutely essential to a person's well being and success. Healthy relationships and meaningful achievement grow out of healthy self-esteem. It is not possible to feel good about other people unless one first feels good about himself.
Parents are primary in building a child's self-concept. Parents are mirrors in which children see themselves. Positive, parental feedback builds healthy self-esteem in children and youth.
Marie J. Bridges
Gainesville