Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure

Peer pressure has a powerful influence on children, starting at a young age and reaching a peak as children enter the middle school years. While peer pressure can sometimes be a positive force as children grow up, it is often destructive and can even be deadly as children make choices about drugs, tobacco, alcohol and other risky behaviors. But for better or worse, peer pressure is a reality all parents must deal with. Using lots of real life examples and situations children are likely to face, this Parent Guide is full of specific ideas to help children of all ages think for themselves, reflect upon and use your family’s values in making decisions, use effective techniques to resist the power of the crowd, implement secret agreed-upon-in-advance signals when they need help or support coping with peer pressure, and other proven successful resistance techniques. The power of staying involved in your child’s life, building self-confidence, and positive activities such as music and sports are explored. Several easy ways to accomplish each are also included so you’ll have an effective plan to help your child. This is not a collection of warnings and theories, but a valuable compendium of proven ideas that you can use with your child every day for years.