Many parents wonder “How do I protect my child from bad influence?”
It can be truly worrisome to think about who and what your child is influenced by. When you are trying to look at the big picture, you don’t want them to start imitating irresponsible behavior. Your child might have a friend that is rude or disrespectful and the last thing you want is that attitude rubbing off on your son or daughter. This is when the question arises of how to protect your child from bad influences.
Should you put a stop to them socializing with that friend? Would it be better to limit their time with them? There are many questions to ask when it comes to this situation so making sure you approach this with the right mindset is important.
The way to protect a child from bad influence is to educate them on how to spot a bad influence and what to do when it happens. Being able to recognize and react to certain things is the key to staying level-headed and keeping up your guard.
1. Voice Your Concern Without Being Overbearing
Telling your child that they can’t be friends with someone can drive a wedge between you. Forbidding them to spend time with friends you don’t approve of will lead to some resistance and the last thing you want as a parent is to hurt your relationship with your child.
If you try to put a stop to your kid hanging out with friends, they will feel like you don’t trust them to make their own decisions. It will make them feel like you are passing judgment on them and their friends. Instead, try to prepare them for handling peer pressure and bad situations.
Teach them how to reach important conclusions on their own so you won’t worry as much. You have to find ways to talk to your child about things that concern you and let them know what they are allowed to do and what they are not. Focus on their attitude and behavior more than just their friends.
Forbidding your kid to see or talk to someone they probably see every day at school anyway is probably not going to work. It might even make things worse because kids can get sneaky with their actions and you might not have a clue what they really do.
What you can do is touch base with their teacher to be sure they aren’t acting up in school if you are that concerned. Kids spend a lot of time at school and sometimes teachers can pick up on changes in our kids before we even see them.
The best way to approach this conversation with your child is to find ways to connect and subtly bring up your concerns. Try not to sound pushy or condescending when talking about who they choose to hang out with. You have to find ways to handle bad influences as they come along without compromising your relationship with them.
You raised your child so have some faith.
They should be able to recognize when someone around them is doing something wrong. Let them know that a real friend won’t be upset and try to get you to do something if you don’t want to do it and that they are always there for you no matter what.
Remind them that if they decide to commit crimes or do drugs, it could have some nasty consequences in their lives. Sometimes kids aren’t thinking things through and considering the consequences of their actions, they’re just focused on having fun and trying to impress their friends.
2. Don’t Be Judgmental or Controlling
When you are asking your self “how do I protect my child from bad influence?”, try not to come off as controlling and overbearing.
The last thing you want is for your child to become angry and resentful. They need to know that you don’t approve of some of the things their friends are doing and that you are always open to talking about anything no matter what the situation is.
Share stories from your own experiences with friends in your past and maybe tell a story about something that you experienced when it comes to bad influences. Tell your child what this behavior can lead to and see if that’s the future your child sees for themselves.
Convince them to make the best decisions for themselves and not just for your approval. They need to learn to be responsible for their actions as adults and the time starts now.
If you want to take this a step further, you can talk to your child’s friends and get to know them better. Don’t just blindly criticize someone that your son or daughter has a bond with because the child can take it personally.
Give your child’s friends a rock to lean on if they ever need a listening ear as well. We all have our internal problems so try not to be so quick to judge because maybe that friend just needs a little positive attention.
This might start to modify their behavior as their level of respect for you increases.
This might be a hard task to achieve though since many times, kids don’t really care about sitting and talking with adults, especially their friend’s parents. They might try to shut you out but it’s worth a try.
If you think the influence will never change, try giving them less freedom to go out with them. Limit visits to a couple of times a week and supervise them when you can.
Tell them if they want to hang out, they can come to your house because you will know exactly where they are and what they’re up to when they stay home. Set good examples for your child and their friends when they’re around the house.
It is important to be kind and welcoming when your child has friends over. Don’t make them feel like you don’t like their friends even if you think they have some bad influential behaviors.
3. Guide Your Child and Teach Them About Consequences
Trying to protect your child from something or someone that has a bad influence can be a difficult task and It is disheartening to see them surrounded by people that aren’t making good choices. You don’t want your kid to end up corrupted by spending time with people that make poor choices and don’t consider the consequences.
It can be hard to deal with a situation like this and you are afraid that your child picking up bad attitudes or behaviors will lead to them dealing with major consequences. You look at the people around them and wonder if what they’re doing is impacting your son or daughter negatively. The things we see and hear all have an effect on us throughout life and when we’re young, we are still forming our values.
When a friend of your child talks back to their parents in a sassy tone, when your uncle stops by and spews a bunch of curse words in front of the kids, when you are having a glass of wine with dinner every night, you wonder if these things will affect your child negatively.
Help your child build character and strength by being resilient and learning how to fend off negativity.
As they get older, it becomes easier to stand up to peer pressure and say no. They grow and learn as they go along while figuring out who they are and what they want in life. They are developing the ability to make smarter decisions as they grow older.
Final Thoughts – How Do I Protect My Child From Bad Influence
When it comes to how to protect your child from bad influence, you will need to make sure that you are coming in with the right mindset.
Our children have to learn how to deal with people that might encourage them to make bad choices. You want them to be able to solve their problems when you’re not around to help guide them.
Most children don’t want to get into trouble or suffer consequences but on the other hand, some kids find an appeal to getting into trouble. When you notice your child getting out of line like using curse words, you should address it immediately. If you let it go, they will test the waters further and their bad attitudes and foul language will just get worse and worse.
Make sure you touch base with your child every night before they sleep.
Ask them about their day and how they’re doing. Take the time to catch their vibe and spend a little time focused on them because this will let them know that you care about what they’re going through. Keep your relationship open and loving, and be supportive when teaching your child to be responsible for their actions.
It’s natural to worry about the path your child is going down but you can’t walk it for them. Set good examples in your home and keep communication open to help cope with negative influences. If your child is a teenager, here is an article for creative punishments that will lead to growth out of a child.