Karate Classes in Medfield - 15 Common Teen Peer Pressure Traps
Posted: December 26, 2017
By Master Christopher Rappold
Peer pressure can be tough to deal with. But it will help you to remember that you do have choices. Here are some of the situations in which you may encounter peer pressure.
1. Everyone else likes a certain kind of music that you don’t care for.
2. An unpopular person asks to spend time with you and you really want to but you know all the other kids will make fun of you.
3. Your friends are smoking, drinking, or using drugs and tell you they won’t be your friend anymore if you don’t do the same.
4. Someone tries to cheat at school by copying your paper or homework and tells you you’re not really a friend if you don’t let them do so.
5. Older kids are wearing certain types of clothing you’re not allowed to wear or don’t want to wear.
6. Most of the other kids have a girlfriend or boyfriend and you don’t
7. You’re asked to get into a car with a bunch of kids and you know that the driver has been drinking.
8. Everyone else is teasing someone or being mean to them, and you don’t want to go along with the “joke”
9. Kids come over to your house when the parents aren’t home and you’re not allowed to have them in, but they want to come in anyway. Or they try to break rules around your house when your parents aren’t home.
10. Friends dare you to do something you know is wrong (like stealing or saying something rotten to someone) and you think they’ll think you’re a baby if you don’t do it
11. You don’t have as much money to spend on things as everyone else does
12. You really want to be nice to a sister or a brother, but everyone expects you to be mean to them
13. Everyone wants to goof off the day before a test, but you really want to study for a good grade
14. Friends expect you to misbehave in class and throw spitballs or pass notes, but you don’t want to.
15. You want to join a club or a school team that everyone thinks isn’t cool
As parents, we know no one has the right to force you to do something you don’t feel is right. We know if someone stops being your friend because you don’t join them or won’t wear the same clothes or get the same grades or don’t want to play the same games, maybe it’s time to look for new friends.
True friends will respect your right to decide for yourself what is right. Even best friends can have different feelings and values. Each person is different, after all.
We know all this, but what is most important is that when the situation arises, your teen will know what to do. Talking through situations like the ones listed may be just the frame of reference your teen needs to give them the confidence to make the right choice.
Use the list as a place to start discussions and get them thinking in advance of the situation happening. Time invested in conversations like these, done formal or informal, always pays you back tenfold in peace of mind and saves your teen from needlessly stepping into a myriad of landmines disguised as popular choices.
If you would like to have your child try our award-winning character based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page to sign up today. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home.