Peer pressure can start at a very young age when children see their friends and cousins having toys they want but don't have. Giving in to tantrums and demands for matching toys teaches children that bullying will get them what they want. As children get older, the peer pressure increases as friends acquire cell phones, cars, and romantic relationships earlier than others. However, giving in to desires and wants at every turn sets a pattern of not being able to live without things just because others have them. It is important for parents to teach children moderation in wants from a young age by sometimes saying no and helping them understand why certain things aren't necessary.

1. Peer pressure
It is a big deal at age three if your cousin has a red truck or a Tweety tea set and you don't.
You positively need them, and nobody understands your gaga googoos. They translate it as
sweet talk. Then you cry, shout, throw a tantrum and finally they understand. You either get
your cousin's ones or your parents go to that particular shop and gets them for you. You score
big time.
At age seven your friend has a mechano set or a dollhouse; at twelve they have a cell phone,
an iPod, a Play Station and you, of course, have none. You threw the same tantrum at seven
and scored, at twelve nothing less than the three would suffice.
At fourteen your friend has a boyfriend or a girlfriend and you go berserk trying to find yours?
Where is mine? As a result you don't even see that the one you are boasting about is a half-wit
bag of pure garbage. While you listen to Beatles and Pink Floyd, he loves to 'balle balle'. While
you talk about books like 'Anne Frank' or 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea', he finds
it hard to complete his homework.
At eighteen, your friends leave for the US of A, You don't consider the option of trying your
luck for Dhaka University. You are happy that you enrolled yourself at some American
University's Dhaka campus.
Your friend is earning big bucks by doing business at 20, you decide to drop out and do the
same. Your cousin drives a Mercedes 3x and again you need that car.
You have stepped into this vicious cycle at three, when you scored big time by throwing a
tantrum and your parents succumbed to your innocent charm.
Life is nothing but wants, desires, lust and passion. At a young age you as parents need to put
that into your child's head; of course you will get that car but make sure it's a blue car and it's
after the child forgets about it. Don't scold the child while he screams and hell breaks loose, be
patient and never make that mistake of bringing home other children's toys just because yours
wanted it. It's bad practice. If you do that, you give your child the first lesson to bully.
Thus at age fourteen when she/he gets a girlfriend or boyfriend you find it horrifying to deal
with raging teen hormones. Because at teens, even asking them to clean their room gets you
answers like 'you're ruining my life.'
Every minute detail in life is a lesson. If you do not learn to reason, you cannot tell your heart
that you can live without that Mercedes or diamond solitaire. In order to please yourself or
your beloved you corrupt yourself. It all started at three when you didn't learn to listen to 'No'.
By Raffat Binte Rashid