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| 9.5 | Family Tip - Learn about Your Children’s Friends |
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How to help your child be successful by making sure that they surround themselves with successful friends.
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 | No one doubts that peer pressure is very powerful. Take advantage of this power. Make sure that your child’s friends are pressuring them toward values that you think are important. Also make sure that your child’s friends are not pressuring them toward behavior that is dangerous.
Our friends make us who we are. Children do not talk, dress or act like their parents. They talk, dress and act like their peers. A child’s friends are the single most powerful influence on who they will ultimately become.
We automatically strive to be accepted in our social group. It is easiest to be accepted when we are average. When we are average, we do not pose a threat to others in the group and we are not seen as inferior and shunned by the group.
Our actions tend to be within a range of acceptability defined by our social groups. We would never partake in public activities that are not accepted by our peers.
How do you make sure that your child chooses the right friends? Make sure you set a good example. Display the values that you think are important. It may be important for you to act kind, avoid harmful behavior and choose friends for yourself that have values you strive for.
Make sure you surround your family with people you approve of. It is much easier to make sure that new friends are good friends than trying to get your child to abandon an existing friend.
Explain to your child how important it is to choose the right friends. Involve them in the process. Have them discuss their values. They may see that a specific friend does not share their same values.
Sometimes children know what they are doing is wrong, but they need help to stay out of the situation. Practice these situations with your children. Rehearse ways of doing the right thing. Have them practice saying “no” to certain friends. They may need help breaking away from friends. Give them excuses. Keep them busy.
In extreme cases you may have to physically prohibit interaction. If your child’s peer group is involved in violent activities, drugs or other harmful behavior, you will have to intervene. Make sure that your child has no interaction with these people. If you have to, change your child’s school, adjust their schedule or get help from authorities.
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Further Information
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| Leave a Comment About the Tip: 'Learn about Your Children’s Friends' |
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| Comments | Showing Comment 1 - 1 of 1 |
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| 1 | Kids Copy Their Friends |
| Look around. You see groups of kids and they look at act exactly the same! They see and they do! It is critical to make sure that your child chooses the right friends.
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| Comment 1 On:Learn about Your Children’s Friends
Added On: 2/8/2009 5:48:04 PM |
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