We’ve all heard of the term “peer pressure” and we all fervently pray that our children don’t succumb to it and start doing drugs or hanging out with the wrong company. But then again, most parents don’t know how to go about it the right way.
Protecting children from each other is something which is absolutely necessary in today’s unsavory world and though parents believe that they can’t do anything about it, they totally can!
Granted, that for those hours in school or college, your children are not in front of you, but if you start from a young age, you can actually “pressure proof” your kids!
Yup, that’s right; you can teach them to resist peer pressure.
When they’re young, start involving your children in little activities that involves you painting a situation and asking them how they would react to it.
This is a very helpful activity, the object of which is to teach your children to decide for themselves and make the right decision at that. You need to let them think about the consequences and examine all possibilities. If, at the end of the exercise, you suspect something I amiss, then it probably is.
Another thing you have to teach your kids is the art of saying no. Most times, teenagers, in order to fit in, generally accede, to whatever their peers suggest. While it is important to get along with others, it is equally important to know where to draw the line.
So teach them to avoid giving immediate “yes” or “no” responses to situations. It would help if they could buy time to think about things, before doing anything rash.
Another thing, that you, as a parent, must do, is identify why your children need to fit in so badly. You need to figure out why your children feel the need to do things you don’t approve of. Maybe it’s a way of asking for your attention, in which case, you really have to make more time for them.
Or maybe, they’re mixing with the wrong crowd, in which case it will be more difficult to ask them to stop mixing with their “friends”. It could even be a combination of both and if you’re not careful, your child could really be in trouble. So do watch your children’s back, no matter how busy you are, remember, they’re precious.
