Helping Your Children Deal With Peer Pressure

As parents, we need to accept the fact that we can’t be there for our children every single day of the year, and there are going to be times when they need to make a decision on their own during times of peer pressure. Before that time comes, it’s important that we prepare our children as best we can to understand peer pressure situations and how to make the right choice at that time.

The peer pressure situations we worry about most are at times when your children’s friends are partaking in high-risk behaviors such as drinking alcohol and trying drugs and the pressure to fit in and go along with these activities are easier than standing up and avoiding them altogether.

Get to know their friends

Your children’s friends are likely going to be a key player in their lives, at least while they’re growing up. Help foster positive friendships and get to know these children by inviting them into your home. Make sure your house is a landing spot for them and their friends so they have a go-to hang out location that is also on your turf. If your child is starting to hang out with kids you consider to be a bad influence, start a conversation with your child. It’s not fair to judge a book by its cover, but if you suspect they are up to illicit activities, talk to your child about it.

Open the lines of communication

Once your children hit a certain age, your job as a parent starts to shift from caregiver to advice-giver. Make sure you’re available to them for advice when they need it. It’s important that they know you will come with an open mind and a caring heart, and you should definitely try not to be judgemental if they confide in you with their secrets. Try to focus on the next steps they can take with problems learning from their past mistakes, rather than placing the focus on the why and how they were able to make the mistake.

Talk to other parents

Another major source of support in helping your children is enlisting the help of their friend’s parents. These parents are likely going to be just as concerned as you are with their own children’s future and having someone you can lean on will help in the years to come.