How To Deal With Your Child's Toxic Friends?

Sort things out before it's too late.

- Santosh Pattanaik

As children grow older, a big worry for parents is that their children might "fall in the wrong crowd" or be part of a negative or irresponsible peer group. The wrong crowd includes anyone who influences your child in ways that are contradictory to your values, systems, and beliefs as parents. It is of course normal and expected that children will become more influenced by peers and groups outside the home. This is part of their journey to independence as they work out their own identity and how they want to live their lives. Research studies do show the strong influence of peers in children's lives as they become older. Within an irresponsible peer group, a previously well-behaved child can be negatively influenced, whereas within a responsible peer group a child who is struggling can be encouraged to behave prosocially.