Your role as a parent in helping your teen to deal with peer pressure is very important. As the parent, you are the base support for your teen to turn to when faced with all the different types of peer pressures.
It is up to the parent to build the backing that our teens will use as a defense in the battle of peer pressure. The defense you are building is much like the armor that will protect them when those peer pressure darts are coming in.
Let’s start with the chest armor. This is an important piece because it covers the heart. The heart is the basis of your teen's feelings: how they feel about themselves and about the confidence they have in the love they are given.
This is how this works. A child learns to be secure from the actions of their parents in many ways. A child is more secure as a teen when they have been given consistency. Constant love, rules, consequences and rewards is the basis. This way they know that in their life they have predictability. The teen also knows that no matter what, they are loved.
This means that just as much as we love completely, we also give a firm foundation of structure. This structure is what teaches the teen in the long run that they have moral, good thought patterns, responsibilities and goals.
The next piece of armor that we equip our teens with are the leg pieces. These are what teach our children to walk away. The leg piece is the part of them that can make them walk away using tact and wisdom. We need to teach our teens the statistics, information and knowledge of the different peer pressures. This way they will have good information that will help them get out of bad situations.
For example: Well over 50% of all teens are still virgins after they graduate high school or until age 17.
Now they know that when their friends tell them, “Everybody does it” They know that is not the case.
The gloves are the next piece of armor we help our teen equip. This piece is what we give our teens to be able to do more constructive and positive things with their lives. The gloves are what we do to prepare our teen by helping them find sports, music, skills, or interests that they like. This way they are building positive relationships from the beginning.
Finally the headpiece is one of the most important pieces we give our teens. This piece represents the thoughts that we give them that will be the foundation for self-confidence and conviction. That is what it takes to be able to say no to peer pressure.
If your teen has self-confidence, they will be much less likely to follow the crowd. They will be leaders and not followers. They will likely also lead their friends in positive directions.
Each time our teen makes a decision, from the time they are little, it is a good idea to recognize that the decision was good and show approval. This consistency will build confidence in our teens. This confidence is what will help them stand strong in their decisions.
With this information in mind, as a parent you already know your role in helping your teen deal with peer pressure. All you need to do is help them get good armor in order to repel the damage that is aimed at them from peer pressure. I myself am working to give my teen the strongest plate armor possible. What do you think you want for your teen?
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