Protecting Your Child from Negative Influences

Our world today is full of violence, drugs, and irresponsible behavior. Young girls dress more and more provocatively with each passing year, and boys become more and more interested in guns and violence. Children are dying in the streets, often at the hands of other children. Drug dealers use young children as "runners," and often sell drugs to other young kids. Grade-schoolers are getting pregnant and contracting sexually-transmitted diseases. It's scary to think that our children are growing up in this world.

Unless you keep your child in a bubble, you cannot possibly shield him from all the bad things in the world. Even if you could shelter him completely during his childhood, he would be ill-equipped to live in the outside world when he became an adult. There is just no sure-fire way to protect our children these days. But there are ways to help teach our children to protect themselves and steer clear of these negative influences.

Talk to your child

Children cannot protect themselves from dangers that they are unaware of. You may think that if you avoid the topic, your child simply won't have to deal with it - but you're wrong. If you don't talk to your child about drugs or sex or violence or any of the bad things in the world, somebody else will, and they probably won't say the things you want your child to hear. They will tell your child all about the fun and none of the dangers. Don't you want your child to see both sides of the coin?

Remind your child

You've heard of "the talk." The talk can be about sex, or drugs, or whatever. And it's a good thing. But just one discussion is not enough. Important points can be forgotten, opinions can be swayed. If you want to instill certain beliefs and standards in your child and help keep him safe from the dangers of the world, you need to remind him often. It can be as simple as saying, "Ugh... doesn't that cigarette smoke smell terrible? Why would anybody want to put that into their body?" Simple little reminders can play a big role in keeping your child safe.

Start early

If you don't want your child to start smoking in junior high, you need to talk to him about it long before any of his friends are trying it. That is, you need to bring it up when he is very young. Don't wait for the peer pressure to kick in before trying to instill values in him. If your values are competing with peer pressure, the chances of him caving to other influences is much greater than if he already knows that smoking is bad for him.

Set a good example

If you don't want your child to smoke and drink alcohol, don't do those things around him. Better yet, don't do them at all - kids have a way of knowing what we do in private, even when we think we have kept the secret. If you don't want your daughter to dress like Britney Spears, don't wear those clothes yourself. There are so many negative role models out there for your child to see - you need to be a good example for her to follow.

Be a parent

This means keeping an eye on your child's actions. Know who his friends are, and where they are going when they go out. Monitor what he does online and what he watches on television. You don't have to invade your child's privacy on a regular basis, but if you suspect that something is wrong, do some investigation. Be up front with your child and ask him if something's going on. Talk to his friends, his teachers. Be active in your child's life.

Even with our best efforts, sometimes kids fall victim to negative influences. But if we take the time and effort to be proactive in keeping our kids safe, they are much more likely to grow up healthy and strong.