The Truth About Peer Pressure

It is an inevitable part of childhood, but there are ways to help your child navigate through bad influences and become more self-assured.

The relationships that kids foster with their friends are an important part of growing up and learning to navigate life’s challenges.

“The adolescent years are trickier, but from as early as nine years old on, kids can be influenced by their peers in terms of their attitudes, values and behaviour based on the norms adopted by the group,” points out Fauziah Shah, director at Singapore-based Petra Hypnosis and Training Centre.

Friends and peers can be a “positive influence”, says Fauziah. “Some kids are motivated to excel and can be a great influence in encouraging their peers to get involved in projects, group study, managing their time better and even becomimg more goal-oriented.

“Peer pressure can also coax one another to conform to standard rules and regulations like being punctual, doing their share of project work on time and participating in activities such as sports and volunteer work.”

But this is a double-edged sword. Other kids may also influence your kids to behave differently from how you, or they themselves, would like.

"Peer pressure can be negative when they discourage your child from working hard at their studies and instead, cause them to seek pleasure in unacceptable activities such as smoking, drinking and stealing,” warns Fauziah.

When things turn dodgy, how can you help your kids manage the situation?

WHEN IT IS A PROBLEM

Peer pressure becomes toxic when children are encouraged to take risks that come with experimenting with alcohol, skipping school or getting into trouble with the law.