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Brian was a happy fifth-grader who related well, enjoyed learning, and accepted his parents’ Christian values. Then he changed schools.
Some time later, Brian’s parents noticed that their son had changed, too. He had become angry and depressed. Troubled, they consulted Catholic psychologist Dr. André Leyva, who has a family counseling practice in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The reason for Brian’s unhappiness soon emerged. “Mainly, it was a change of friends. The popular crowd at his new school had values that clashed with Christianity, and he was trying to fit in.”
Research indicates that peer friendships have a great impact on personal development. It wasn’t always this way, Dr. Leyva explains. “Until the twentieth century, children and adolescents in our society were generally supervised by adults and participated in activities that included people of different ages. In today’s age-segregated society, kids spend much of their time with their peers and are far more likely to be influenced by them. Especially for adolescents,…
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