Caring Kids

Teach Kids to Handle Peer Pressure

When my son was in grade school, he came home talking about a new kid at school that looked and acted a little different. The new student was taunted by friends of my son and they did not make him feel welcome. My son was neutral and did not step in to make the poor kid feel good either.

This was an opportunity for me to talk about having compassion for others and doing the right thing despite the peer pressure to do the opposite. I asked him to put himself in the shoes of the new student and see how he would feel being taunted because others did not like the way he looked.

I also let him know that those who bully are often bullied themselves at home and he needs to have some compassion for his friends who bullied.

--Dovemom