Wrong Friends and Poor Choices

We all want friends while in school, some of us are better at friendship than others. However, we do need to be able to discern whether a person would be a good friend making good choices or a bad friend making bad choices. During a person’s life, there are always going to be the 2 types of people in your school or class that would be good friends or bad friends. There can be guilty by association meaning you may get into trouble even if you did not do anything wrong. It difficult to get rid of bad kinds of people, so it is best to avoid them from the beginning.

The following are some helpful ideas on how to connect with the “good choice” in friends:

Make good decisions

Attract the right kind of friends

Do well in school

Monitor your own behavior

Choose people with similar interests and goals

Be an optimistic thinker

Keep positive thoughts

Peer influence is remarkably powerful. It is more so when it is a child. Help YOUR child to become an independent thinker or have confidence in SELF to make those decisions. Every word that is talked about in the Child Success Course is important – these words or phrases all work together. They are all important for the child. Around the age of 14, the child will start to resist peer influence, rather than just follow someone aimlessly. Do not let YOUR child be easily influenced by the negative behavior of another child. TO do that they need to be confident and independent thinkers. Keep them focused on their schoolwork and positive activities involved in their school or community activities.

Wrong Friends and Poor Choices

YOUR child is unique – encourage them to keep a journal about how they are feeling and what they are thinking – and help them to talk about these so you can encourage them to do well in school and move themself into activities where they have an interest.

The child may have negative thoughts towards themself, self-evaluation. The child should move those negative thoughts to positive thoughts as soon as it possible. Have them focus on their good school subjects and move to improve the ones where they need help.

Thought to stop may help in negative thoughts-“Get out of my head”

Positive affirmations can help-“I am a confident and unique person”

Enforcing boundaries – breaking a bad habit pattern

Become a “Watcher” – it is wonderful to be a people watcher – standing back and watching and learning from others – the children doing negative things or the children doing positive and rewarding things.

Every year is a new development period in YOUR child’s life-be prepared for each new time in your child’s life and have the child prepared because in today’s environment they have access – if not directly by what they see in their school class or community activities.

Being prepared will help in YOUR child’s growth and development into the Adult they are meant to be.

Wrong Friends and Poor Choices

Proactive or Reactive – the Choice is YOURS.