Do you want to educate your child on how to handle peer pressure? You must be frustrated by now on trying so many options and looking for an apt answer. You didn’t get one, but does that mean you will give up? Regrettably, you do not really have a choice or the pleasure to quit since your child’s future is at stake.
You will come across both positive and negative impacts of peer pressure. The positive stimulus shows you the way towards achieving a task that you normally thought to be impossible to succeed in. The negative impact surely makes you feel like hell and drives your child you to complete depression. It is not a very pleasant sight when you see your kid being mentally disturbed due to peer pressure.
You must guide your child in managing peer pressure and ways to control one’s mental health without losing own identity. Sometimes you might notice that your child does not wish to act in a certain way. However, he will eventually do so to keep his place stagnant in the social group. What if this process of ‘fitting in’ keeps repeating quite often? Your child will gradually and ultimately land into depression and acute anxiety, and other similar mental disturbances.
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What is peer pressure?
Peer pressure is nothing but social pressure that you get directly from your peers. Now, who exactly are your peers? They can be anyone hanging around with you, starting from members of your family, friends, and acquaintances. If your peers are directly influencing you with their thoughts and ideologies, you are under peer pressure. To make your child understand the ways to fight peer pressure, first stress on making him understand the concept. Sometimes your child may do a work that he normally doesn’t want to, but does it howsoever on influence.
Peer pressure can land you up in both fruitful as well as harmful platforms. When your child is under acute peer pressure, you will see that negative impacts will easily surpass the positive ones. This can happen with a very significant margin demarcating both the effects.
What are the negative impacts of peer pressure?
Your child may become subjected to some of these harmful effects under extreme peer pressure:
- Watching adult films and other adult content to relax the mind
- Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol
- Drug abuse
- Insomnia
- Anxiety and depression
- Eating disorders
- Frequent mood swings
When your child experiences these mental disturbances, what are the signs that you are likely to see?
- The problem in concentration and focus
- Changes in sleeping cycles
- Issues with the digestion of meals
- Lack of zeal to do any work, energy, and irritability
- Constantly dwelling in a melancholic mood
- Desires of self-harm and thinking about suicidal options
- Losing interest in things that your child normally loves doing
- Feeling guilty every time and developing a sense of self-hatred
- Sudden loss of body weight or maybe the reverse
- Your child may constantly keep complaining about not being engaged in any work or being bored all the time
- You may also notice a sudden decline in your kid’s academic or other extracurricular performances
- Your kid may always feel isolated even after being in a room full of people
Prevention strategies to handle peer pressure:
If you ever feel like your child is having depression or mental instability due to peer pressure, talk to him. It is very important that you be extremely supportive as a parent when you are watching your kid suffer from anxiety. Do not think for a second or hesitate to discuss the problems that your kid is experiencing. Try boosting his confidence level and empower him with your words to elevate his lost self-esteem. This will not only help your child find some self-space but also help in overcoming negative peer pressure effects.
Do not miss out on guiding your child in difficult situations, and asking him to stay positive all the time. Support and encourage your kid to take up activities that can boost his mind in a playful manner. Such an effort from your end will give him that push to work and concentrate on things more effectively. Talk to your child about his interests, what he loves to do in leisure hours. Try to keep him engaged in fun and fascinating activities so that it mentally boosts your kid.
You can even try fulfilling some silly wishes of your kid just to see a smile on his face. For instance, if your kid wants a weird haircut, go get him one! If he asks for strange clothing from you, buy him one! You never know what might just lighten up your kid’s mental health. Do not get angry at your child’s desires. It may pile up the burden of damaging thoughts that your child is already carrying on his shoulders. Follow the signs of your depressed kid, then you will automatically know how to deal with them.
What kind of tips can you give your kid?
If you see that your kid is upset or depressed due to peer pressure from school or society, help him. All your kid needs from you at such vulnerable situations is Help! When your kid is under peer pressure, you will see him suppressing his interests, dislikes, and approach towards pleasing others. You may just help your kid overcome peer pressure, without subjecting him to the dangerous impacts. Some tips are mentioned below for your kid to avoid disturbance of mental wellbeing.
- Learn how to say NO to certain things. This will actually end up solving the majority of your problems. You should learn to distinguish between the right and wrong dos.
- Do not give away the right to your friends and acquaintances to influence you with their ideologies. It is you who should make the decision, not your peers.
- Always welcome suggestions from your friends, but do what you feel is right for a particular situation.
Finally, always remain confident. Set some barriers for yourself that no one can cross. Do not lose hope and isolate yourself from the world.
