26 May Falling off the wagon
The two types of pressure that can lead to long-term harm for children, when it comes to education is Peer Pressure and Parental Pressure. Peer pressure takes effect when children or young adults take up unfavourable positions due to either the influence of their friends or due to the fear of being left out. Most children who have families that are understanding in nature and those that want their children to be independent tend to have kids who don’t succumb to peer pressure, but if the child is subjected to the other type of pressure; then there is a higher likelihood that that will succumb to peer pressure.
To explain this better, let’s look at some examples. George is a mediocre student, who gets average grades but is great at team-based activities and sports. His parents are super proud of him and understand that he is trying his best at school and they are supportive towards his sporting efforts. Philip, on the other hand, is a high-achiever and everything looks great on the surface. But Philip has to deal with “tiger parenting”; his parents expect nothing but perfectionism, and he also has to deal with the fact that he is being left out by everyone. So on one fine morning, he has a conversation with a kid who goes to the same school as him. On the way to the school, the kid flips out a cigarette and lights it up. Philip for the first time in his life is asked whether he wants something; for the first time, he’s given a choice. Philip takes the cigarette but coughs on his first attempt; but after the longest time, he feels good. The kid who walked with him to school, makes this a habit and slowly Philip moves on to alcohol at a young age followed by drugs; his grades start to slip, and he becomes everything that his parents feared.
So the important thing to learn from the two above examples is that parents need to understand that their children need room to learn and make mistakes and more importantly have the freedom to do what they love when it comes to education. Peer pressure isn’t something that can be controlled, but the urge to indulge in the activity is something that can be controlled with the right type of parenting. Just remember that your children are not born to fulfil your dreams and expectations, but they are born to find their own way.
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