Peers; from tallest to the shortest, from dumbest to the smartest and also the partners in crime, all of them! are undoubtedly and undeniably one of the most strong influence on one’s life. They make us do things we would never think of doing alone, things we are never sure if we can achieve, and things we don’t know if we are good enough for.

Although somehow, when it comes to parents sometimes, we get to hear how bad it can be, how it can ruin one’s life and help one become a total loser. e.g.,

Coming home late?; “must be your friends pushing you to waste your time.”
Failed in a test?!! “that friend of yours! I knew he would ruin your academic record *unlimited exclamation mark*”

And God forbid, if you ever smell anything close to a cigarette, that dumb looking friend of yours is so dead! Weather or no that poor soul has a clue.

We never get to hear any positive side of it; like, if peers can change your bad side, if peers can push you to work hard for your goals and if they can help you to be a better person.

When set in the right spot, peers can turn your life around in a most amazing way and bring you closer to the better side of yours. Helping you out in assignments, reporting back to your dad if you smoked again, rash driving? Call goes to your mum! And having faith in you, faith that you can do anything and achieve anything.

What every parent (and student alike) needs to understand is, when peers can push you off the rails, there is a possibility that they can also be the ones who can pull you back. But how would you ever know the difference? How do you know if they are having a positive influence or a negative? The answer is simple! Give your kid’s friends a chance. Get to know them, invite them over, may be have a friendly match, like Pakistan v/s Bangladesh! Have a dinner together once in a while. Then and only then, would you know what is your kid up against, and before bowing down to a socially unacceptable pressure from peers, a kid would turn back and look at the path his parents has set for him.

When you keep a distance, so does your kid, and develops a dual life style. One for the family and one for their peers. Watch out for that split nature, the cranky and edgy persona and look closely at the silver lining.

Do not wait for your kid to fall down so that you can be all, ‘I told you so about it’. Keep them closer than before. Wait before you burst over them, rather give them a chance to turn down that pressure that’s changing them and be patient with them, as its one of the most difficult part. Because they believe with all their might, that their friends have their best interest at heart. And it’s not easy to recognize the difference between what’s right and what’s fun.

If you can do that! Have a little faith not only in your kid but also on the bunch of kids he hangs around with and show it to them, before reacting to any wrong opportunity coming their way. Only then they’ll hold on a moment and remember, that some one back at home trusts us!