A teenager paces peer pressure in the high school, where failure to confirm to the norm results in one being unpopular and desisted. The problem starts when such peer pressure happens to be with bad company, incorporating vices such as drugs, alcohol and so on.
Parents play an active role in helping the child reject peer pressures whenever required. The first step in this direction is to help build the child’s self-confidence. The best way to do so is discover the child’s niche, be it sports, hobbies, creative talents or anything else and divert the child’s mind and matter to that direction. Parents should take care to give the child a few constructive choices, so that the teenage is free to select for himself or herself.
The diversion of the child’s mind to creative pursuits should be reinforced by encouraging the child to stay aloof from the “popular” crowd, especially if such popular crowd is the source of bad influences. Make the child understand that real friendship lies in quality and not with quantity, and encourage the bonding of friendship with a few nice peers instead of allowing the child to hang around with the crowd. Continuous mixing with the crowd, even if shorn of vices impedes the development of real friendship in any case.