Individuals have a feeling of self-esteem when they feel positive and confident about themselves. But self-esteem is fragile: it can be carefully built up or easily torn down. In April Raintree, April is placed in two very different foster homes. In one, the Dions, her self-worth is nurtured: in the other, the Derosiers, these positive feelings are almost destroyed. The Dions helped April feel good about herself. The Dion family loved and treated April very well. For instance, they treated April like she was their own child. The Dions raised April’s self-esteem because she felt like she was a part of the family, which made April think positive about herself. The Dions treated April with respect and never abused her. For example, Mrs. Dion let April have her hair and clothes the way April wanted, and the Dion family gave April space and respected her belongings. This helped raise Aprils self-worth because she was never hurt mentally or physically, and she felt respected by the Dions. The Dions shared their …show more content…
The Derosier family treated April very differently the moment she arrived. For example, they never loved her, and they never gave April a feeling of being part of the family. This destroyed April’s self-esteem because she never felt like she had worth or meaning in the family. The Derosier family physically abused April. In other words, Mrs. Derosier cut April’s hair and slapped her for no reason. This lowered Aprils self-esteem because she felt weak, and she could not do anything about the abuse. The Derosier kids, Maggie, and Ricky, made up a lot of rumors about April. For instance, Maggie told Mrs. Derosier that April went into Maggie’s room and stole things. This made April’s self-worth drop because the whole school was making fun of her. The moment April arrived at the Derosiers, she felt bad about