Unfortunately, peer pressure is something that we all face in life, even sometimes as adults.
Peer pressure is usually more challenging for children to deal with, because they don’t have the
confidence to stand their ground and say no.
With that said, parents should try and teach their youngsters different strategies for handling peer pressure as and when it comes their way. Here are some tips from an independent school in London.
Explain peer pressure
Your child will struggle to resist peer pressure if they are unable to recognise when it’s actually
happening.
With that said, explore some examples of peer pressure and explain why it could potentially be a bad thing.
Teach assertiveness
Help your child establish and stick to personal boundaries and let them know that it’s perfectly ok to
say no sometimes.
Try and demonstrate this behaviour yourself so that your child can learn from your own assertiveness.
You don’t have to be rude with it, it’s just about standing your ground and doing what’s right for you in a given moment.
Applaud individuality
Your child also needs to feel confident in their own skin and know that there’s nothing wrong with
being different.
In fact, individuality is something that should be celebrated.
If people were all the same and followed each other around like sheep, life would be boring! If your child is comfortable being unique, they will be more likely to turn someone down if they are being pressured to act a certain way or do something they don’t want to do.
Explore moral values
Your child needs to understand the difference between right and wrong.
They need to have a strong moral compass in order to turn down someone who is pressuring them, otherwise they might fall into dangerous or rebellious behaviour.
So, talk to them about working hard at school and being kind and compassionate towards others. Make sure they know that honesty is the best policy.
Disclosure: this is a collaborative post