4.        Participating in the restoring of self-esteem

Studies have shown how certain youngsters who were among the most disadvantaged and excluded, underwent real narcissistic suffering: who am I that society does not respect me, and does not give me a chance?  Living in difficult areas, often from immigrant backgrounds, these youngsters, feeling excluded from society, with no self-esteem, end by dropping out of school at an early age. They see no future for themselves, and quickly descend into drug-taking, delinquency, etc. Some of these young people are in our establishments. The narcissistic suffering can also stem from painful family situations: who am I that my parents take so little account of me?

These young people must be helped to regain their self-confidence and to raise their self-esteem above their sufferings and their frustrations: “you are so precious in my eyes”. This task requires among other things that members of the educational community should be trained in the techniques of resilience. To see a child through spectacles of resilience helps us not to reduce him to a problem, never to make “a case” out of him, but to reveal and develop his potential, to use it to help him to rebuild his life. It is to be hoped that there would be at least one person, trained to listen to the young, present in each of our establishments.