Making friends is easy, and their influences are hard to ignore, and this influence can be both contentment and irreversibly damaging.
The reality is, we choose our friends and so we ultimately choose to become an impression of them!
How important is it to choose our friends wisely?
The influence of the bad company in the context of gang crimes is one example of where choosing the right friend can keep you from trouble. Educators and parents can do a lot for our children, and it comes with a level of responsibility.
Research has been in favour of having healthy and fruitful friendships, it amounts to fewer stress levels and an overall improved lifestyle! This has been incorporated into numerous studies over time. Now researchers are turning their attention towards the ‘friends’ that can rather instigate stress in others or create resentment by being the wrong kind of influence.
The New York Times wrote a wonderful piece on this subject: Some friends, do more harm than good.
Consequences of bad company: Gangs and knife crimes:
In recent news, we have been hearing repeatedly of brutal knife crimes and outrageous murders of young teenage boys. Take the case of Jaden Moodie- a 14-year-old boy mercilessly stabbed by a rival gang while dealing drugs last year. The horrific and condemnable crime is one of the hundreds that can be traced back to the bad company!
According to BBC’s report on the case of Jaden Moodie:
“The younger gang members – between the ages of 12 and 17 – are becoming increasingly active in street-level crime both as victims and perpetrators.”
Peer Pressure and involvement in gangs:
Peer pressure can push a child, who has no concrete notion of consequences at a young age to do something that has serious results.
Motives and solutions have been under debate for months now, but the fact remains that most of these victims are innocent children. Adolescence is a wonderful time for anyone and to be exposed to elements of peer pressure and eventually committing a crime is a much bigger concern.
The role of parents and teachers:
Parents at home and teachers in schools should create awareness in children on the difference between right and wrong companies and the consequences of choosing each! Educators can teach children to spot the signs of gang association and can aid in helping pupils to make gangs seem less glamorous. Parents must teach their children that joining a gang can destroy lives; lead to criminal records, and to prison with serious charges.
I believe classes should be developed to help parents overcome the challenges they face when they suspect and are losing their children to gang crime.
Parents sometimes turn a blind eye to a child’s company under the guise that they must be monitored by their teachers, but a child should be instilled with the ability to detect which friends can harm them right from the start at home.
Home should be a friendly place and give the child the attention they deserve, so they don’t go looking for it outside and turn towards gang life. Sometimes they cannot differentiate the nuances of good/bad influence. Parents should take it upon themselves to guide their children who in turn should trust their judgment!.
Our responsibility to society is to strip the glamour of crime and raise our children with the right morals, surrounded only by the right company.