As a parent, you do your best to try and nurture and love your child in every way possible so that they can grow into a loving and caring person. But as a parent, you also have days where your kids drive you nuts! And that’s okay because that’s what comes with parenting. All you can do is hope that the morals and values you teach them at home, stick with them when they’re not at home.
Kids are going to be kids, of course, so when they’re at home, they’re more than likely going to be on their best behavior because they know you’re somewhere making sure they stay out of trouble. But the question is how will your kids act when they’re not in your presence? Do you think they’ll conduct themselves in a way as if you were there? Or do you think they’ll give in to peer pressure and potentially get themselves into trouble?
According to familydoctor.org, video games, social media, and music all play a major role in the peer pressures tweens and teens face every day, making it very hard for parents to decide whether or not to get their tween a phone. But as much as you hate to admit it, you know your kids are going to need a phone for safety reasons, so at some point, you’re going to have to loosen the reigns and hope that everything you taught your child sticks with them, especially in questionable situations involving peer pressure.
They Can Run From It But They Can’t Hide From It
Some parents will try to shield their kids from peer pressure altogether by getting them involved in extracurricular activities. These after school activities are actually a great way to reduce the chances of your child falling victim to peer pressures. They’re not going to be able to fully avoid them but extracurricular activities will certainly have them distracted long enough to keep them from certain pressures. Consider having your child enroll in guitar lessons or join the band or swim team.
Of course, it’s easier to say that than it is to actually do it. You have to consider what your child is interested in and if you can even afford extracurricular activities. If after school programming isn’t in your budget at the moment, that’s okay… there’s no need to go into panic mode. You’re just going to have to equip your child with the right mindset to handle peer pressure and hope they will apply it when they find themselves facing peer pressure.
Peer Pressure Isn’t Always So Easy to Pick Out
You’ve taught your kids to say no to drugs and alcohol. They know not to get in the car with strangers, and they know not to steal. Those are situations where it’s pretty easy for them to know what’s right and what’s wrong so they’ll be able to easily say no to those situations. But what about the situations where they’re unsure what is right and what is wrong?
Certain peer pressures aren’t always so easy to pick out and your child might experience that kind of peer pressure and feel unsure about what to do. So what do you do? Well, you’re going to have to prepare and equip them with the right social skills to help them make smart decisions. Here’s how to do it.
Role Play Situations That May Be Uncomfortable
When you’re in training for a job, you won’t know exactly how to do your job until you get hands-on. That same theory applies when prepping your kid for peer pressure. You may not be able to provide them with real hands-on experience to peer pressure but you can role play uncomfortable situations with them to see what they would do if they were put in that position in real life.
Remind Them That You Were a Kid Too
As a parent, your kids look at you as their parents. They tend to forget that you were once a child and can relate to certain things they’re going through, so sometimes you have to remind them of that and let them know that they can talk to you about anything.
Now, it’s also important to understand that no matter how many times you tell them that they can come to you about certain things, they may not take you up on your offer right off the bat… and that’s okay. Just keep being relatable to them and let them know that they can come to you about anything because you’ve more than likely experienced it… eventually, they will come around.
Teach Them No Means No
Once your kids hit their tween and teenage years, they’re definitely going to face peer pressures where they’re going to say no but no one will believe them. This is the very reason why you have to teach your kids that no means no and when they say no, they have to mean it.
In saying no, they can’t laugh and say it or even say it in a joking way because no one will take them seriously. They need to know that if someone is pressuring them in any way, they need to say no with authority in their voice and they can even say “I mean it” just to let people know how serious they are.
