Teaching Your Child to Resist Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is a hard thing for children to both understand and overcome. It can require a lot of dedication for some kids to pick up the best options for them when it comes to being curious. Thankfully, a lot of things like peer pressure can be handled at home from the direction of us parents.

In this guide from a prep school in Surrey, we look at some tips you can use to help your child with their peer pressure.

Show your child how they can identify peer pressure

Being able to know when you’re being pressured into a situation is key to finding a way out of the situation. There are also good and bad forms of peer pressure; a child who is cheered on to join a game of football to try it out will be different to being pressured into stealing something at school.

Give your child examples of how they can figure out what is peer pressure and what is healthy encouragement. If they’re able to differentiate between the two then they’ll be able to make many more informed decisions.

Show your child the benefits of saying no

A lot of children can think that saying no means they’re missing out on something. The reality is they’re probably not missing out on anything at all by not falling for peer pressure and are protecting themselves well. Give your child reasons why saying no is perfectly acceptable and that it will have no impact on their development. If anything, a child that is able to say no is more likely to be responsible, relied upon and develop into independent thinkers.

Give your child examples of the consequences

Whether it hypothetically happens, or sadly happens in real life, your child is going to be subject to a number of consequences. Depending on the offence from peer pressure, your child could be suspended from school for a day, or you could receive a letter from the school about your child’s behaviour.

For your child they may lose friends, dampen relationships between their peers and have harmed their chances at performing well in school. They could fall behind in school, not be given the same opportunities as others and have to change their attitude to get them back on track.

Peer pressure can define children if they succumb to it, but it can also be an opportunity for your child to work on their resilience and critical thinking skills. Your child is brave, and they’ll be able to move along with life without any risks to their development.

Collaboration.