The Impact Of Peers On The Development Process Of Children

There was once a jar of clean, fresh water. Every drop of water inside the jar was pure, untouched by any of the pollution outside. The water drops inside the bottle felt immensely proud of being clean and pure. Out of happiness, they would keep on congratulating each other of their pureness. But one day one of the water drops became bored with their ultra-clean existence and decided to go out and experience the outer world. The water drop wanted to try what it felt like to be dirty. Everyone tried to make the water drop understood, but the drop didn’t listen to anyone.

The drop went outside and when it came back in the jar with all dirt in it, the drop made the other drops in the jar dirty. They tried to get clean again, but couldn’t. They tried almost everything to shake off their dirtiness, but every time they failed in their endeavor. Finally after many days, a person dripped the jar into a fountain and a lot new water drops entered the jar. After the dirty drops came in connection with new drops, they regained their old transparency and purity. They realized that if they wanted to stay clean and pure, all of them need to be so. It was only a small mistake of one single drop that brought hardships for everyone inside the bottle.
Human life works in the same rule. Our society and environment play a vital role in our life.

We learn things by observing the world around us. Thus it is very important for us to be in a group or society where everyone thinks positive and also shows productiveness. In most descriptions of psychological development, special importance is attributed to friendships during the formative years of a child’s life. It is also argued that friendship at this stage of development has a major influence on the advancement of personality, social skills and social behavior among the children. According to some studies, the impact of parents on their kids is less than what their peers have on them. Thus it becomes very important for the parents to be aware of their children’s friend circle. They should keep a keen monitoring towards the activities of their children. There are some tips that parents should take care of in the developmental years of their kids’ life.

These are briefly discussed below:-

1. Being a parent, you should keep a watch not only on the activities of your kids, but on the circle with whom your kid mixes up with every day.

2. Focus more on your teen's positive friends. These are the peers who are making a difference. Helping young people sustain positive relationships with good role models is protective.

3. Pay close attention to high-risk boys and significantly older friends of both sexes in your son or daughter's circle of friends. Their influence can be negative.

4. Learn about the relationships your child's friends have with their parents. By steering your children to friends who are close to their own parents, you can help reduce risk. Parents can approach their child's friends with confidence and have a positive impact on not only their own child, but also their child's circle of friends.