The Power of the Parent

Parents are mirrors for their kids' self esteem, especially when the children are younger.

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A parent's actions, both intentional and unconscious, provide a large basis for the development of a child's self-esteem. Having high expectations for your child is not a bad thing. In fact, it's part of what incentivizes your child to do well. 

However, there comes a point when having high expectations goes from being supportive to pressuring. For the most part, perfectionism develops as a result of parental pressure to achieve. This typically manifests as criticism for a child's mistakes and insistence upon flawless performance. Something as simple as a sigh in response to an unsatisfactory grade can become an unintended form of psychological control, resulting in a child becoming unrealistically self-critical.