Learning the Signs to Peer Pressure

Week five for our "Strengthening Families" has us learning all types of signs. Our youth learned about the signs of peer pressure while the parents learned about signs youth give them and what they are communicating.
After a fabulous lasagna dinner we split up into our parent and youth sessions. The parents learned about listening for feelings. For example when your child is complaining about doing the dishes, are they just complaining or are the trying to let you know how they feel? Often times youth have a difficult time expressing their feelings. their complaints may be a way of them to express frustration. Often how parents handle complaining and frustration are two different tactics and it is important for them to know the difference between the two. The listening exercises will give them the opportunity to better listen to their youth and validate their feelings making communication between the two easier.
The youth learned about the effects and causes of peer pressure. They also had the opportunity to learn about some ways to combat peer pressure. As part of the lesson our youth had the opportunity to practice these tools of asking questions, naming the problem, talking about the consequences, and offering an alternative.
During the family session the youth and parents practiced listening and communicating skills. Together the families worked on problem solving. Each family picked a problem such as, fighting over the bathroom. Then the families worked together to understand each person's view on the particular subject and together created a plan to solve the problem while keeping everyones point of view in mind.
Our next meeting will take place on March 4 then we will take a small break to practice the skills we have learned and then come back together in April to refresh, recap and graduate. For more information about "Strengthening Families" please contact Christy Strickland, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent at (910) 671-3276 or Christy_Strickland@ncsu.edu.