PEER
REVIEW
Parents can help their
children cope with peer
pressure and bullying
In every classroom, on every playground and at every bus stop, millions of American
kids are feeling pressure to fit in with the other kids. They also experience and
witness the harmful effects of “bullying” more acutely than ever before. Scott & White
is dedicated to helping children, adolescents and their families deal with the tough
issues of growing up.
dolescence is a time when
children learn to function in their
own world, apart from their
parents. At the same time that they’re
earning more freedom, they’re becoming
more vulnerable to peer pressure. “Peer
pressure influences some children and
adolescents more than others and is present
as early as elementary school,” says Helen
Zaphiris, MD, child and adolescent
psychiatrist at Scott & White Healthcare.
Bullying can emerge as an issue for any
child or adolescent with challenges in the
A
22
THE CATALYST Fall 09 | sw.org
academic, physical or emotional realms.
The goal of pediatric experts at Scott &
White is to help parents and children learn
coping strategies as early as possible.
A need to belong
“As a preteen or adolescent begins to
establish his or her own identity, he will
look to his peers and emulate behaviors
and images in order to fit in,” says Dr.
Zaphiris. “The degree to which a child or
adolescent is influenced by peers depends
on the quality of parental/caregiver
involvement, how secure the child feels in
those relationships and their own genetic
vulnerabilities. All children and adolescents
succumb to peer pressure to some degree,
but the level to which they succumb to
negative influences depends on how
healthy and secure they feel within
themselves emotionally.”
Adriana Strunk, licensed clinical social
worker in the pediatric outpatient clinic at
Scott & White, agrees. “Kids want to
belong, so if they don’t go along with
something their friends want to do, they
sw.org | Fall 09 THE CATALYST
23