Of all the emotions we talk to our kids about to help with their emotional intelligence, shame is the least talked about and possibly one of the most impactful on our internal view of our identity.
Shame shows up in the places where we get things wrong. It reminds us of our inadequacies and pushes on our fear of rejection and abandonment… and the messages start early.
I once heard Brené Brown, a shame researcher, tell an incredibly telling story about a kid who gets made fun of by a teacher for making a bad grade on a spelling test. She explains the different responses you will see from a child who has a shame message of not being good enough and a child who doesn’t.
Understanding Shame
A child with a solid identity who recognizes that one test does not define who they are, and who has an engaged relationship with their parent, where grace is given when mistakes are made, will come home and tell their experience to the parent for reassurance in the confidence of their identity. Kids with a secure attachment can recognize that the teacher was cruel at that moment, and the kid had a bad day on one test.
However, if the kid already has an internal shame belief that says “There’s something wrong with me,” or “I’m not good enough,” that message is reinforced by a teacher’s humiliating comments and a poor score on a test.
Shame tells us to hide.
It is highly likely that the child will never talk about this embarrassing moment with anyone and will remain alone in the negative feelings associated with their failure. They don’t share the experience of this moment to reinforce confidence in themselves; they keep it to themselves to avoid reinforcing the shame they already feel.
The best way to identify when those internal shame messages might show up is to acknowledge our inadequacies and help our kids acknowledge theirs.
Shame causes us to feel less than.
Shame exposes our fears of not being good enough, smart enough, strong enough, thin enough, rich enough, or popular enough, etc…
As children grow and learn what they are and are not good at, they will start to feel shame in the places where they fall short. We have an opportunity to help them have a secure identity by reinforcing that they have value and belonging, even though there are things they might not be good at.
Building security isn’t about dismissing the shortcomings; it’s about accepting and validating your child’s value despite them.
This is why understanding how shame works is so crucial when it comes to the impact social media can have on our kids. There has never been a more significant source of comparison than what they have access to through technology which is only compounding the negative shame messages they might have about themselves. This is where we can help them by engaging with them when they use technology.
Preparing for Social Shame
So, what can you do to help safeguard your child’s identity from the adverse effects of shame? Lay the groundwork for a healthy inner dialog.
How to Spot a Negative View of Self
One by product of a negative view of oneself is striving…Striving to get the highest score in that game, the most likes on a social post or comment, or to appear in a better position than those we compare ourselves to.
Usually, those striving efforts are a subconscious way we hustle to counteract the belief that we are not good enough.
“If I get the highest score, that will prove that I’m good enough.”
“If I get the most likes, that will prove that I’m good enough.”
Sometimes you can notice a difference between a child doing their best and feeling secure, versus one striving out of fear of failure, based on how they respond if they don’t do as well as they hoped. If they show feelings of disappointment that fit the moment, that is natural, and we have an opportunity to reinforce their value despite this one moment.
If the child’s response is bigger and more negative than the moment merits, often it is because their failure is tied to a deeper message, and they were using their efforts to try to counter that message. In these moments, we can help them by validating that their failure doesn’t define them and their value is tied to who they are, more than how they succeed or fail. Showing a child love and acceptance in the midst of their failures is how we build a secure attachment and counter the effects of shame.
Building a Strong Foundation
If we can send our kids a message that they are good enough, have inherent value, and belong to something greater than themselves, then we can start to prepare for and mitigate some of the negative impacts technology has on our kids.

Authored by: Angela Imhoff
Angela Imhoff is on staff at New Heights Church, serving as the Celebrate Recovery Ministry Leader. With a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy and extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, Angela is passionate about helping believers consider how emotional health influences their faith. She and her husband co-host The Connecting Couples Podcast and enjoy working together to build stronger marriages in their community. They live with their daughter in Fayetteville, Arkansas.