How Do I as a parent protect my child from bad influence

 

As your child ages, they start making their own decisions, selecting their friends, and building networks. But as parents, you might ask yourself, “How do I protect my child from bad influence?” A friend’s bad influence may adversely affect your child—they may become more rebellious, disrespectful, or even experiment with drugs. If you’re worried about your troubled teen, reach out to Venture Academy for drug and alcohol treatment and various personalized programs to tackle behavioural issues.

It is normal for parents to wish for their children to have positive friendships where they can give and receive support and evolve into kinder humans. But today’s world is dangerous for children, and not everyone has your teenager’s best interests at heart. To know more about protecting your child from friends who have a bad influence, reach out to us at 866.762.2211.

How Do I Protect My Child from Bad Influence

A friend’s bad influence might impact your child in multiple negative ways, such as the following:

• Skipping classes or bunking school
• Engaging in unlawful behaviour such as stealing or shoplifting
• Lying to parents or teachers, frequently accompanied by poor academic performance
• Loss of interest in daily activities and hobbies
• Drinking alcohol, smoking, or doing drugs
• Being rude or violent toward adults

As a result, you might wonder, “How do I protect my child from bad influence?”

Well, the answer is quite simple. You must make your teenager realize that their friend is a bad influence and that they’ll be happier in a more wholesome company. Here are some tips to get you started on protecting your child from their friends who have a bad influence:

Proactively Talk to Them About the Issue

If you try to supervise your teen or keep tabs on who they’re meeting, they might resent you for being overbearing. So, instead, carefully broach the topic and talk to them rationally about the situation, treating them as adults. Teenagers often get so caught up with everything that they fail to recognize the signs of a toxic friendship. Instead of criticising, lecturing, or punishing them, point out the harmful effects of such a friendship and listen to what they have to say.

Guide Them to Make the Right Choice Without Forcing Them

As an adult, you can set limits and boundaries for your child, but if you outright forbid them from hanging out with certain people, it might rub them the wrong way. Instead, if you focus on making them realize why someone is a bad influence, your child can independently decide to cut them off.

Introduce Them to Hobbies and Activities Where They Can Make Better Friends

Another tactic to protect your child from bad influences is introducing them to positive influences. You could encourage them to join a book club or a board gaming group where they can meet like-minded peers and build healthy friendships.