You may feel that you have a great deal of influence over your child. When he was an infant, he was dependent upon you for all of his needs, and you may feel that there is no reason for that situation to change.

However, times have changed. Your child now socializes with, receives ideas from, and is influenced by others. By the time he has reached adolescence, his peers may well have a greater influence than you, his teachers, his Rabbi, or any others. This peer pressure can draw good children into cults. It can make them do strange things. It is a stronger force than family, counselors, consultants, psychologists, teachers, or any other factor.

Those peers may pressure the child to act in ways that you or others may consider to be unacceptable. Children can be very cruel to each other, and the child may compromise his better judgment in order to gain acceptance.

Your child may feel that his parents will always be available, and that now others can impact more strongly on his daily affairs.

Peers sometimes pressure children to demonstrate "brave" acts that others have already done - and show that they survived.

On the other hand, some children who have suffered from cruel peers may be more withdrawn. They may feel a need to punish those who have harmed them, or to punish society in general. Those who cannot fight back will suffer from pent-up anger and frustration. They may lash out on those who are perceived to be weaker - including their parents.