Peer Presssure: Parenting III

Peer pressure is a two-faced character with a bad reputation for pressuring individuals into drinking, smoking, and prmiscuousness. That is why when our daughters would bring home questionable freinds, I’d think, No, no, no, I can’t let my girls hang around these kids!

But, I was to learn a great lesson.

First off, peer pressure can go two ways. And, this happens more frequently than the media lets on. The influences of honest, empathic, and wise people are constantly pressuring us to experience well-being, progress, and purpose in life.

So, I refused to manipulate the children’s relationships. To support a manipulative pressure would have been to support negative peer pressure. Instead, I baked their friends favorite cake, I listened to them, and I went on horse rides with them.

The universal influence of Soul, God, was acknowledged and experienced, an influence or pressure not belonging to a certain class of human beings. The fear of peer pressure dwindled, and over the last twenty-five years, I discovered a bevy of new friends through our children.