Teaching Your Child to Resist Peer Pressure

We all come across peer pressure at some point in our lives; the trick is knowing when it can put us in harms way or get us into trouble, and therefore avoid it. Unfortunately, children aren’t as good at spotting and stopping peer pressure in it’s tracks, which is why parents need to teach them about it and help them find ways to resist it. Here’s some advice from a private school in Surrey.

Start by explaining what peer pressure is and perhaps offer some examples if you’re feeling up to it. For example, if another child offers your child a cigarette and calls them names if they don’t take it, this would be a good example. Sometimes it can be more subtle, like if everyone in school is doing something that your child hasn’t done, they might feel obliged to follow the crowd, even it makes them uncomfortable. If you’re struggling, have a look on YouTube and see if you can find some videos to show your child so that they get a better idea of what it is. 

Teach your child that it is absolutely ok to say no and that if the person who is pressuring them is a true friend, they won’t press the issue. True friends do not make people do something they don’t want to do. Try to boost your child’s self-esteem on a regular basis so that they have the confidence to stand up to someone and say no. It might be helpful to practise ways to say no without being disrespectful. For instance, they could say, “I don’t want to do X, perhaps we can do Y instead?”. 

Talk to your youngster about the benefits of being unique and standing apart from the crowd so that they’re not afraid to be different and do their own thing. Of course, it’s important to be able to co-operate with others, it’s also crucial that your child doesn’t feel they have to do things they don’t want to do just to fit in. You should also try and help your child see things from the perspective of the person who is doing the pressuring; perhaps they are insecure and victim to peer pressure themselves. 

If your child does happen to fall prey to peer pressure, try not to be too harsh on them. Instead, provide them with a safe environment where they are free to talk to you about whatever they are dealing with. If you punish them or react badly, they may not feel comfortable opening up to you again in the future, which could lead to a whole host of other problems.