1. Helping Teenagers Overcome Peer Pressure
Mr Edwin Tan, MSSc Counselling

2. Developmental Stage of Adolescence
Physical development
Cognitive development
Emotional development
Psychosocial Development
Transition between childhood and adulthood

3. Physical Development Puberty – defines as sexual maturity
Marked by changes in the body
Growth spurt: weight & height, development of sexual organs, growth of hair in the face, chest and pubic area
Hormonal changes
Over-concern with appearance

4. Cognitive Development
Thinking like adult
Generate abstractions and hypotheses
Consider contrary-to-fact situations
Generate all possibilities from a specific situation
Combine ideas to derive a conclusion
Self Image
How teenagers look at themselves

5. Emotional Development
Mood Swing
Quick changes of emotions from happy to sad and back again
Irritability
Short fuse

6. Psychosocial Development
Middle adolescents (14-17 years old)
Generally finished most of their pubertal development, and they have begun to use their new abstract thinking abilities well.
Still want to be with their peers but now the group includes both sexes. Girls at this stage are deeply involved in their relationships with friends, while boys are more likely to want to ‘hang out’ and do things with their friends.
Questions about sexuality issues
Long held thoughts and beliefs may be challenged. Teens start to become physically independent.
Rules and limits testing

7. Psychosocial Development
Late adolescents (18-21 or 22 years old)
Begin to recognize that their parents may not be infallible, but parents can be their best friends.
The peer group fades in importance and is replaced by a few good friends.
Can enter into relationships where they can give to their partner as they have received
Interests now focus on their educational or vocational future.

8. Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is something many parents worry about, especially as their children reach their teens. The term is used to describe the influence that a group of friends or classmates can have on another person their age.

9. Peer Pressure
Peer pressure can happen at any age, but some experts suggest that 11 to 15 year olds are often more susceptible. It's normal for teens to want to fit in with others their age, whether through wearing the same clothes, listening to the same music, having the same interests or doing the same things.
Being the same helps them feel like they belong to the group and are accepted.

10. Peer Pressure
But during the lead up to, and when in their teens, the importance and influence of friends tends to increase, so your kids are more likely to be influenced by their friends than you.
This can cause quite a bit of adjustment for parents who, up until this time, have been the primary influence in their kid's lives.

11. Peer Pressure
While parents can't protect their children from experiencing peer pressure, there are steps you can take to minimize its effects.

12. Types of Peer Pressure Peer pressure can take many forms. For example:
Pressure to dress the same way.
Pressure to dye hair.
Pressure to have ears pierced.
Pressure to listen to the same music.
Pressure to change clothing styles.
Pressure to hang out later.
Pressure to change your look.
Pressure to cut your hair.

13. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Develop a close relationship with your children. If they haven't already, parents should work on developing an open, honest and close relationship with their children.
Children who have close relationships with their parents are more likely to identify with and work to please their parents.
Children who have close relationships with their parents are also much more likely to come to their parents when they are in trouble or are having problems.

14. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Create and maintain an open line of communication.
Encourage your children to be open and to share their feelings with you.
Be respectful of your children, and try to avoid ‘talking down to them.’ Frequent communication with your children can have a strong impact, and demonstrate that you care about their thoughts and feelings.

15. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Set a good example. Remember as you interact as a family that children pay more attention to your behaviour than you may think.
Child psychiatrists and authors will often point out that what children become has a lot to do with the example set by those who raise them. Specifically, children often learn through the ‘monkey see, monkey do’ method.

16. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Encourage your children to be assertive. Encourage your children to stand up for what they believe in, even if their ideas may differ from others.
One of the hardest things for children to do, is to speak out against popular opinion when they believe something ‘doesn’t seem quite right.’ Let your children know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and that they can agree or disagree with someone and still be respected.

17. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Get to know your children’s friends. Make an effort to get to know your children’s friends.
Encourage your children to have their friends over. This gives you a chance to learn more about your own children’s interests and to better understand how they interact with their peers.
Encourage a wide variety of friends. Parents should encourage their children to have many different friends. This will expose children to other children who have many different interests and ideas. This will help promote individuality, and will make it less likely for children to give in to peer pressure from any one group.

18. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Praise your child for doing the right thing.
Express your admiration to your children for their independent thinking and speaking out even when they know that their point of view may not be the ‘popular opinion’ of others.

19. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Set ground rules.
Believe it or not, children crave rules from their parents.
Setting reasonable and clear boundaries concerning curfews, household chores and social activities, will show your children that you have expectations of them.
When setting these rules, clearly discuss the rewards or consequences of following or breaking these rules with your children.

20. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Children want to be liked and they want to fit in. They may worry about being made fun of by their peers if they don't go along with the group.
In their interactions with their friends, some children may leave their better judgment and common sense at home, letting pressure to conform carry them toward something they wouldn't normally choose in response to peer pressure.

21. Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure
Above all, when dealing with peer pressure, don't panic.
In reality, it's just a part of growing up and helps the development of independence and identity.
Kids need to go through a period where they work out their own beliefs and views.
Although they may go through times when they seem completely alien to you, in the long run, many kids do come back to the ideas, values and beliefs gained from you, their parents.

22. Q & A
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