Teens and Peer Pressure

From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, Today, 01-May-2008 edition

 

Teens and Peer Pressure

By Dr James Dobson

 

I once watched a documentary showing how Indian elephants

are trained to serve their human masters, and I was struck

by the similarity between these beautiful creatures and our

fragile teenagers.

 

Shortly after an elephant has been captured, it begins its

training process with three days of total isolation. At the peak

of the elephants’ vulnerability, they are brought to a night-time

ceremony of fire where they are screamed at and intimidated

for hours. By morning, the half-crazed elephants have yielded;

their wills have been broken.

 

Pachyderms are remarkably social animals and they react to

loneliness in the same way humans do – they grieve, fret and

long for their peers.

 

We humans also have a great need for love and acceptance,

especially during our adolescent years. And like elephants

during the night of fire, teenagers are often subjected by

their culture to a period of intense isolation and loneliness

which often leaves them feeling rejected, ridiculed and

ignored. Some quickly begin to lose their sense of independence

and become slaves to conformity and peer pressure.

 

Therefore, we must teach our children at a young age that they

need not follow the whims of adolescent society. They can either

lead or follow. Of course, it’s better to lead.