Search Results for: blog helping your child with peer pressure

Can You Get Your Kids to Stop Worrying About What Others Think?

Peer pressure is brutal. As parents, we may have done everything we can think of to bolster our children against the realities of peer pressure only to be disappointed to find that our child is still succumbing to worrying about what everyone else is saying and doing. Is there anything we parents can do to get our child to NOT be so concerned with what other people think? I think I am asking the question of questions for parents; one that parents have been asking themselves for decades (if not centuries). There is something about the socialization of the human … Continue reading →

Helping Kids Learn to Find Balance

We parents and adults talk a great deal and work hard to achieve some semblance of balance in our lives. We try to balance work and family, and even balance the time we spend with different loved ones and the time we are able to set aside just for ourselves. Since we are so busy working on trying to achieve balance in our own lives, we may not think about how we can help our children learn how to have some balance in their lives too. Balance is important for kids too–even small children can really benefit from having a … Continue reading →

God’s Spoilt Children

We’ve probably all met spoilt children. How does a spoilt child act? They are demanding selfish, insisting on their rights and their own way and show little regard for the feelings of others. But what about ‘God’s spoilt children’ as a friend of mine calls them. ‘God’s spoilt children’ who are they? So often I hear from pastors and others in full time ministry about the expectations laid upon them by others. Sadly, I don’t just mean those outside the church who come knocking at the door at all times of the day and night, bringing their needs. Of more … Continue reading →

Helping Our Kids Let Go of “The Crowd”

Peer pressure, friends, cliques, socialization–it is all a huge part of growing up. Our kids learn a great deal about surviving in the real world from learning how to interact socially as they are growing and developing. But, our children also need a chance to hear their own voices, get away from the crowd, and get in touch with their individuality and figure out who they are when they are NOT part of a big peer group… As parents, we can help our children learn to balance social time with alone time. Of course, some kids just seem to natural … Continue reading →

Helping Your Child Stay Strong in Values

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In one of yesterday’s articles, I discussed the different types of personalities in a classroom. I described some of the actions from children who tend to be leaders and children who tend to followers. Followers are more susceptible to peer pressure. Some children are very concerned about trying to fit in a group. They are afraid to go against the crowd even if they have to go against heir own believes and values. These traits begin very early in a child’s life. Yesterday, I discussed how some children in my room would not make a lunch choice until they have … Continue reading →

Leaders, Followers, & Peer Pressure

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In a group of twenty or more students, you will find all types of children. Each child is unique in his or her thinking and actions. Among the various personalities in each classroom, there are followers and leaders. Leaders are the children who tend to be the starters of events and conversations. Some of these children will be the leaders of positive actions and others will be the leaders of trouble actions. Leaders are usually contributors to both positive and negative peer pressure. Followers are usually never the cause of anything. However, they participate in everything. These children never begin … Continue reading →

Kid’s Pressure to be Cool

No matter what school your child attends, chances are he or she is feeling pressure to be “cool”. While being cool is okay to a certain degree, when it means dressing wrong, talking wrong, treating people badly, or misbehaving, then being cool is not cool at all. Today, we see several groups of kids, each requiring that members of the group fit in. For instance, the gothic group would expect dark clothing and hair, the preppy group would expect conservative clothing, and the jocks’ group would consist of only athletes, and so on. Although groups in school go back as … Continue reading →

Raising Teenagers

Raising teenagers, I don’t think there are scarier words in the world, when you are a single parent, that fear and stress is multiplied. First, because we all remember what we were like as teenagers and we know this is not going to be an easy ride. When Hailey was born one of the first things I did was apologize to my mother, I was a mean teenager who thought my mother knew nothing and I knew everything. I know that is pretty common but I was still devastated that I had behaved that way, especially once I held my … Continue reading →

Stress and Teens

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Teenagers are under a lot of stress. I’m more than a decade out of my teens and can still remember worrying about grades, going off to college, choosing a major, keeping in touch with my friends, leaving home, and a hundred other things. Kids and adults share a lot of the same sources of stress — moving, the death of a family member, family financial problems, dealing with peers. But teens also have some unique sources of stress, including: Changes in their bodies The transition between childhood and adulthood Overloading on extra-curricular activities Figuring out what comes after high school … Continue reading →

An Introduction Game

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Previously I discussed how harsh older classmates can be on one another. I also described the fear and anxiety that many students experience when it comes to moments when children are asked to choose teams or partners. These times can be awkward and embarrassing for some students. In the last article I also gave some tips that teachers can do to help minimize the anxiety and tension that children experience from one another. Another way that teachers can help reduce the amount of cruelty that students place on each other is through students introductions. These help greatly when the majority … Continue reading →