It seems evident why Americans have so embraced the notion of self-esteem. On the one hand, an overriding cultural value has been placed on the development of the individual, who emerges all too often as just another material commodity. On the other hand, everything about a distraction/entertainment-driven culture is about feeling good, putting aside your troubles, taking your mind off of "it" (Postman, 1986). If William Kilpatrick (1992) is to be believed, it is the entertainment industry that has become the real moral educator of the young. Who, then, can be surprised that in this atmosphere, psychology would formulate notions about raising the esteem of the child. Apparently we have reached the point where self-esteem looms as the be-all and end-all of human health and development.