Teaching Your Child to Resist Peer Pressure

Peer pressure – the experience most teens and some tweens go through at some point in their school lives. It’s driven by that feeling of wanting to impress, of wanting to fit in and as a result of this feeling, children might just do or say things which they wouldn’t ordinarily.

The fact is that a desire to fit in is perfectly normal. It’s a very human thing to want to belong. Desiring the company and admiration of our peers is probably a healthy thing – after all, we need other humans to survive and be successful. But when that desire causes children to behave badly in order to impress, that’s when it becomes an unhealthy thing.

The key to the issue is to help your child to be at peace with their own choices and with who they are as a person.

School can be a balancing point for many children and at best it’s a wonderful opportunity to not only receive an education but also to make lifelong friends. The best schools, like this private school in Beaconsfield, ensure that pupils have strong pastoral care in order to support their emotional development as well as their academic growth.

How can we help children to be comfortable with themselves?

It’s easy for some and not so easy for others. We all, even as adults struggle with feelings of rejection and this fear is at the heart of what can drive that desperation to “fit in”. The key, therefore, is to help children to feel comfortable in their own skin and confident in their own choices.

Some children might feel they are “different” to their peers in some way – perhaps they don’t enjoy sports or are shy. Maybe they’re extra interested in a subject most children don’t even consider.

These children need a lot of encouragement and positive reinforcement. Ensure you give your child, no matter whether they’re shy, quiet or outgoing, plenty of positive reactions when they speak or share ideas.

This will help them to realise their worth in the world and when they are faced with tricky situations later on in life, they are less likely to cave into peer pressure.

This is a collaborative post.