Contending with negative peer pressure

Teary, unable to raise his head, and deliberately avoiding eye contact. Clearly at the end of his tether. He gently shook his head with a sense of helplessness. While standing before my desk, with a quivering voice he poured his heart out, “Boss, my son is toying around with drugs. And lately he has been producing an appalling set of school results.” Chronic truancy was the order of the day as his son associated with the wrong crowd and headed the list of loafers at a prestigious private school. Unfortunately, my colleague’s son had buckled to negative peer pressure.

Naturally humans crave for acceptance and approval. This makes us susceptible to bowing down to negative pressure from our peers. This mindset birthed the expression, ‘Show me your friends, and I will tell you what kind of person you are.’