Peer Pressure: How It Influences Your Child

When your mates pressure you to do or go along with something you don’t like, it’s a form of peer pressure. We’ve got tips and info to help you out in these tricky situations. It’s important to allow teens to make day-to-day decisions for themselves. If parents are always deciding things for them, they send the message that their teens are incapable. The only way teens can truly develop their decision-making skills is to have a chance to practice putting them into action!

They want to be liked and they worry that they may be left out or made fun of if they don’t go along with the group. Don’t try to fit in a group whose values, lifestyle, and beliefs are completely different from yours. See there is always a change in opinion in the group https://ecosoberhouse.com/ some people love materialistic things, some people are minimalistic. You can plan to deal with such a situation and respond to it practically without breaking your relationship with the people. So be ready with your exit strategy because you never know when you need it.

Peer Pressure Beyond Childhood

For this reason, we prepare our children to navigate teen culture when we help them clarify values and think through what they want for themselves. Parents can support teens to follow their own thoughts and feelings and still feel like they are fitting in. Because adolescence is about testing limits and seeking new experiences, https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/dealing-with-peer-pressure/ sooner or later teens will face peer pressure and difficult decisions that may be unpopular with friends. If your teens are increasingly finding themselves in uncomfortable situations, suggest they reassess their friendships. We are at our best when we surround ourselves with people with similar values and interests.

Not so easy when teens feel their peer relationships may be at stake. Positive peer pressure can be a valuable part of learning how to socialize and grow. The type of peer pressure your child is experiencing depends on the peer group they socialize with and the larger social groups they interact with—both in person and online. Gender socialization may influence how receptive a young person is to peer pressure. For example, research shows that adolescent boys are more susceptible to pressure for risk-taking behaviors than girls.

There are lots of situations where you might feel pressured to join in, even when you don’t want to

Providing backup and supporting each other is a proper system which you can carry out with your buddy. When it comes to pressures around alcohol and other drug use, something else to think about is that most students overestimate how many of their peers drink or use drugs. The truth is that many fewer college students drink or use drugs than people assume. It’s similar with sex and “hooking up”—most students have a skewed idea of what others are doing. Knowing the facts can help you to resist pressures based on the idea that “everyone is doing it” and that you must party to fit in.

Their influence begins at an early age and increases through the teenage years. It is natural, healthy and important for children to have and rely on friends as they grow and mature. Peer pressure plays a pivotal role in a person’s mental health; it can force them to do something which can be either less harmful or have more serious consequences. Giving in can have minor consequences, like dressing a certain way, or more serious ones, like unsafe substance use at the time of how to tackle peer pressure. Turn to parents or guardians for backup while dealing with peer pressure situations that feel beyond your coping skills. An outside adult perspective can help decode complex social dynamics you feel confused or hurt by.

Helping teens deal with peer pressure

We have learned that educating teens about what not to do is not enough. Drug prevention programs that have had success have gone far beyond teaching young people to say no. They tend to teach the “whys” behind avoiding drugs, offer social skills to refuse drugs, and give opportunities to practice those skills over time. We can draw from these successful programs and from our own life experience, to empower teens to say “No” effectively. Consider these 8 tips as you prepare your teen to face peer pressure. “Teens have so much on their plates,” says Stacie Goran, LPC, LCDC, Teen Recovery Program Manager at Children’s Health℠.

Types of peer pressure include spoken and unspoken, direct and indirect, and negative and positive. Nearly everyone ends up in a sticky peer pressure situation at some point. No matter how wisely you choose your friends, or how well you think you know them, sooner or later you’ll have to make decisions that are difficult and could be unpopular.

For example, television shows can convey to the public an acceptable way to behave, even though the people on TV do not know every individual they are influencing. Young people may be more susceptible to peer pressure because their identities are still forming; they desire to fit in and not be bullied and have less risk aversion than adults. We hear much more about direct peer pressure, as it is easier to detect and recognize as problematic. It sounds like someone telling you to stop worrying, start having fun, and be part of the group by participating in something you don’t feel comfortable with.