Lanre Olagbaju writes..

Parents fear that their wards may be influenced negatively by adults around them and they try to nip this in the bud.
I know of some "big bros" that we were told to avoid while growing up. It helped in it's own way but what about our peers? Those boys that looked seemingly harmless and innocent? Most of the bad things I ever did in my life were influenced by my peers.
A friend introduced us to cigarettes and booze
A friend introduced us to pornography
A friend introduced us to brothels
We had a friend that always informed us about the easy girls in the neighborhood (he seemed to know every girl that was "dishing" it out fresh and free)
A friend once kept money he had stolen from his uncle with us
As far back as 1989, I had friends that had "gang-banged" and they were happy to share the stories.
I was in J.S.3 when a friend told us in class about masturbation (Never heard of it before then)
We had this friend that my mum loved so much ("F***rin is so gentle and respectful...you can tell he's from a good home" my mum would say). This guy could smoke next week's weed today.
We once got drunk with some friends and they almost made my elder brother drive them home in his wasted state...thank God for our little sister that said my brother would have to drive the car through her...even with all the harassment and threats to beat her, she stood her ground.
Most of these friends were darlings in the eyes of our parents. Our parents felt comfortable leaving us at home with them or coming home to meet them in our house. We were being raised in a Christian home, our dad was even a Deacon then...some of these friends even teased us, calling us "Omo Pastor". My dad would freeze if he should hear of EVERYTHING we did back then (we've shared some with him)
The Bible says "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" -1 Corinthians 15:33
I know kids face a lot of peer pressure coupled with youthful exuberance but there were kids that were good back then and stayed good even with all the pressure.
Parents, BE YOUR KIDS' NO 1 FRIEND...build a trusting/trusted relationship with them so that when they are confused, they will run things by you.
Teach them ALL they need to know...not just Bible stories. Tell them what cigarettes do people's health, tell them how promiscuity ruins people's future, be real with them. Be their first source of knowledge in EVERYTHING. Get to them before their friends do (those things you don't wanna tell them, they'll find out sooner or later)
Check out their friends...it's not that difficult, ask around. My folks would have heard a lot, if only they asked about our friends from other neighbors. Don't allow evil communication corrupt the years of good manners that you invested in your kids.
May God help us to raise godly children that will affect their generation positively in Jesus' name

Amen ooo,thanks very much for this.