DR. WALLACE: As the parent of two teenagers, I'm constantly worried about my teens potentially succumbing to peer pressure. I've heard horror stories from other parents who explained that they had a teenager begin spending time engaged in unsavory activities with small groups of other teenagers, which ultimately resulted in becoming involved in criminal behavior.

Why is teenage peer pressure such a magnetic force, and what's the best way to combat it? — A Concerned Parent of Two Teenagers, via email

A CONCERNED PARENT OF TWO TEENAGERS: Peer pressure, especially among teenagers, is indeed a very powerful force at times. The primary reason teens engage in this behavior is to feel accepted by their peers, friends or others they seek to impress.

The best way to combat destructive behavior suggested by peers is to be sure your teen understands not only their personal value, but also the control they actually have over their own life. Coach teenagers that it's not only alright to "pass" when peer pressure raises its ugly head with unsavory activities, but that it is logical, smart and correct to do so.

Other reasons teenagers sometimes can be goaded into activity by peer pressure include a need to feel important or due to low self-esteem. Once again, plan for this by doing all you can to be a conscientious, loving parent who provides strong influence on building your teens' self-esteem can make a world of difference well before moments of potentially dangerous peer pressure ever occur.

MOM SAID IT'S "BENEATH HER"

DR. WALLACE: I'm a teenage girl living with my single mother. She has a full-time job but has been looking for a weekend job to make a little extra money.

For the past month, she's been looking at advertisements, scanning the internet and checking locally to see what might be available, but so far, nothing has been interesting enough for her to try.

My aunt (my mom's younger sister) stopped by to see my mom last week, and she was offered an opportunity to help clean and organize some local Airbnb homes in our area. My aunt has started a good little business cleaning and resetting these vacation homes. I thought this would be perfect for my mom, but she simply told my aunt that she would think about it. But when my aunt left, my mom told me that she felt cleaning houses was "beneath her."

I know for a fact the pay is pretty good, and my mom has been looking for a way to bring in some extra income so that we could do a few more things together and buy items for our home and our wardrobes.

Is there any way I could encourage my mother to at least give this idea a try? It's not like she would be working wearing a maid uniform as she did the work, and there's literally no people there. She would just go with her sister to these empty houses to tidy them up and get them ready to be rented again. It sounded pretty straightforward to me, and I hate to see my mom pass up what could be an excellent opportunity. I feel like if she would just try it once, she might find it more enjoyable than she thinks. — Hoping She'll Give It a Try, via email

HOPING SHE'LL GIVE IT A TRY: It's hard to say why your mother doesn't want to give this opportunity a try. Perhaps since her younger sister found this opportunity first, she may feel that she would be "working for" her younger sister, and that dynamic may not be her preference. It could, of course, also be that she doesn't want to do that type of work with or without her sister.

But I do have a suggestion for you, and I think it's worth bouncing off your mother. Tell her that if she wants to at least give it a try one time that you'll go with her and your aunt to do the work, and you won't charge anybody for your time. Say you'll roll up your sleeves and help them both out. Tell your mom that it will be fun, that you could talk about a lot of things while you're getting the work done and that the time may pass quickly and she may find that it's better than she originally considered.

If you can convince her to at least give it a try one time, then you have a shot at not only getting your mom that part-time job she was seeking, but at some point, if you're a valuable sidekick, there may be an opportunity for you as well on some of the bigger properties.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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