Peer pressure

Peer pressure has long been believed to be a major factor in whether or not teens flirt with trouble. A recent study of L.D.S. (Mormon) youth confirmed this, citing pressure from friends and the bad example set by friends, as major reasons teens say they choose to participate in delinquent activities. In the same study, the researchers  found that the level of personal, private, religious behaviour in which teenagers  are engaged in tended to be inversely related to delinquent behaviour. 

The researchers  suggest that parents who closely monitor teen behaviour with an eye to help their children choose friends who are a positive influence, as well as giving their children a solid moral base and providing opportunities for them to develop their own spiritual capacity, can do much  to guide their children away from trouble.

A group of researchers at the University of Georgia set out to investigate what family influences affect the quality of children’s best friendships. The reason that children who have high-quality friendships will be more secure in those friendships, more willing to discuss concerns about activities with a  friend, and therefore, less susceptible to negative peer pressure. 

Their research showed that positive relationships within the family tended to translate into better quality friendships for the child later on. Their results suggest that children learn relationship skills from their parents, and then try out those skills with their brothers and sisters to see how they work before trying them on friends. By modelling good relationship skills within the family ( respect, positiveness, warmth, kindness, etc.), parents may help their children form solid, high-quality friendships that will see them through the storms of adolescence.

Although teenagers will make their own choices, a common trait  in these studies of teen behaviour is that, a good home life can increase the odds that kids will avoid many of the pitfalls of adolescence. Particularly, a kind, warm, solid relationship with parents who demonstrate respect for their children, an interest in their children’s activities, and set firm boundaries for those activities, and this  may directly or indirectly deter criminal activity, illegal drug and alcohol use, negative peer pressure, delinquency, sexual promiscuity, and low self-esteem.