How To Help Kids Navigate Risky Friendships

Send us Fan MailWhat should parents do when a child’s friend starts making unhealthy choices? When kids open up about what their friends are watching, saying, or experimenting with, many parents instinctively want to immediately end the friendship. But reacting too quickly can shut down communication and teach a harsh kind of “cutoff culture” instead of wisdom, discernment, and healthy boundaries. In this episode, we share five practical ways to help kids navigate risky friendships with both love and truth. We talk about how to respond when friends introduce inappropriate language, pornography, vaping, hookup culture, and other unhealthy influences—and how to help your child process those situations without fear-based parenting. You’ll also learn: Why there is no perfect friend  How to avoid “level four” reactions to “level one” problems  Biblical conflict resolution from Matthew 18  The difference between inner-circle and outer-circle friends  One-way vs. two-way friendships  How your own friendships model relationship habits for your kids  This episode will give parents practical language and biblical tools to help kids build healthy relationships, set wise boundaries, and navigate friendships in today’s culture. RESOURCESTeach Red Flag Reporting - nextTalk Develop Moral Compass and Default to Love - nextTalk Look in the Mirror - nextTalk Build a Safe Place - nextTalk Adopt a No-Secrets Family Policy - nextTalk Your family is the most important team you will ever lead. - nextTalk Parenting Advice with Pastor Robert Emmitt - nextTalk A kid is confiding in me. Do I tell the parent? - nextTalk Is this Gossip? - nextTalk My kid is telling me everything. Do I speak up? - nextTalk FOMO is real. How do I parent it? - nextTalk TALK: A Practical Approach to Cyberparenting and Open Communication Free Guide: Red Flag Reporting (Faith-Based) - nextTalk Free Guide: Family Pact Teen Version (13+) - nextTalk Free Guide: nextTalk10 - nextTalk Support the showKEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINEConnect with us...www.nextTalk.orgFacebookInstagramContact [email protected]. BOX 160111 San Antonio, TX 78280