Want to teach your child how to avoid peer pressure? Frustrated by your failure to find an answer, you’re all set to give up trying? Unfortunately, you don’t have the luxury to quit because the well-being of your kid is at stake. There are both negative and positive effects of peer pressure. Teens must be given guidelines on how to manage peer pressure without losing their own identity. Sometimes teens do not want to do what their friends say but they still feel compelled to do it in order to keep their place in the group. Finding themselves in such situation time and time again may lead to depression, anxiety and various other mental disorders.

Did you know?

Although there are quite a few positive effects of peer pressure, the negative effects easily surpass the positive ones by a significant margin. Some of the negative effects include drug abuse, watching adult content, drinking alcohol, depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders etc. Therefore, it is important for you as a parent to be clear on the risk that peer pressure poses to your child’s mental development.

What the statistics say

Statistics never tell a lie and it’s sad to say that statistics do not paint a pretty picture when it comes to teens and mental health. The results of research studies done on college students indicated that 27% of the students face some sort of mental health issue. Being parents of teens, you must know that most of the college students die of doing suicide and the major reason behind suicide is depression. Roughly, 1,100 college students commit suicide every year. After an extensive research, American Psychology Association (AMA) found out that depression is a leading health issue faced by college-going students and peer pressure is one of its several causes. It is natural for parents to panic after knowing these facts, but the purpose of sharing this information was not to make you worried. These statistics just point out the need for immediate actions to save our younger generation from drugs and alcohol abuse and to make sure that they remain healthy, both physically and mentally.

Prevention strategies

If you feel that your teen is facing peer pressure, then you must talk to him about it before it gets too late. Try to boost his confidence and self esteem by giving him some space. He is not an 8-year-old kid anymore. Let him take decisions, but do not forget to guide and support him. If he wants a strange haircut or some ‘trendy’ clothing, then let him have it instead of getting angry. Teens do ridiculous things just to remain popular in the group and to get appreciation from peers. You have to make them understand that not everything is worth trying. Also give them confidence so that they may not get indulge in stupid activities just to boost their self-esteem.

A few tips for teens

Most of the teens feel stressed because they suppress their likes, dislikes, and attitude just to please others. We’ve suggested are a few easy-to-follow tips for handling peer pressure that may help teens resist peer pressure without suffering the consequences.

• Learn to say no, it will solve half your problems,
• Remain confident,
• Sometimes it okay to lie, for instance if your friend is continuously insisting you to have a drink then simply say that I tried it but did not like its taste,
• Set certain standards and make it clear to friends that you will not break them,
• Do not let friends impose their decisions on you,Do not let friends impose their decisions on you,
• Do hear your friends’ advice and suggestions, but do what you feel is best for you.

You should also keep on exploring new ways to help your teen deal with peer pressure so that he can pass through the most important years of his life without getting scarred for life.