While parents can blame technology and social media platforms for a lot of modern day aggravations. They cannot blame peer pressure on them. It is one thing that has not changed in the past few centuries. And teaching your kids to not bow down to peer pressure has and remains a challenge for a lot of parents.
Sometimes, as adults we find it difficult not to give in to pressure from our colleagues, friends or family. We find ourselves in situations where we do something that we really don’t feel very comfortable with. And end up regretting it or thinking back in bewilderment and wondering what made us do it.
Peer pressure exists – there’s no way around it.
Peers play a very important role from a very early age. They influence our kids’ social and emotional development. In addition, they do so from early years and throughout their teenage years. Still more as teens and even as adults. While peers can have a very positive influence on our kids. Such as encouraging them to develop new skills or challenge themselves. They can also have a very negative and destructive influence. Bullying, cheating and lying are often a result of peer pressure. Moreover, according to The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The majority of teens with substance abuse problems began using drugs or alcohol as a result of peer pressure.
What can I do about peer pressure?
Children often succumb to peer pressure when they want to be accepted, fit in and be liked. Moving schools, countries or neighborhoods can especially open your child to these feelings and situations. There are many things you can do to protect your child from feeling isolated or insecure. For example, maintaining dialogue and offering a consistently stable and secure environment within the family can help doing so. It will also decrease the urge for children to do whatever just to feel accepted or to fit in.
Building their moral compass up helps too!
You can’t always control who your kids keep company with. But you can instill in them certain core values. Those will help them have the confidence and courage to avoid bowing to peer pressure. Encourage your kids to follow their “moral compass,” their instinct of what’s right and wrong, from a young age. Keeping an open dialogue with them is essential. So they always feel comfortable talking to you about what’s going on in their lives. And allowing you to offer advice when you need to.
Instrumental to raise a confident and self-assured child:
- 1| Encouragement.
- 2| Allowing mistakes and failure.
- 3| Offering them a secure and supportive environment.
Mumzworld Top Tip:
Offer your child extra support especially if they move schools. That is when they can be at their most vulnerable to peer pressure.
