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10 Ways to Help Kids to Really Say No and Buck Peer Pressure
An Excerpt from Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me: The Top 25 Friendship Problems and How to Solve Them
By Michele Borba
Topics can be the hot button issues in the world, in school or right in your home. Here are just a few discussion possibilities: house rules, sibling conflicts, allowances, chores, curfews, parent-set movie restrictions. "Real world" issues could include reparations, the Iraq War, the draft, lowering the voting age, legalizing drugs. Whatever the topic, encourage your hesitant child to speak up and be heard.
It's not always easy to buck the crowd. Everyone wants to be liked. But for your child's own self-confidence, independence and future success in life, it's important he learn to stand up to a friend. So continue to encourage each and every effort he makes, and help him practice the skills of assertiveness until he can confidently use them alone. And above all, remember, simple changes can reap big results. So don't give up.