Good point and very true. Peer pressure is a large contributing factor in many cases. But IMHO, kids are more likely to be susceptible to negative peer pressure when they are shown (through poor parenting or lack of parenting altogether) that there are no negative consequences to their actions. Ill use myself as an example. I won't say my parents were strict but they made sure I knew right from wrong and if I got out of line, I was grounded/corrected/whatever and as far as school, anything less than A's and B's was just unacceptable and I wasn't allowed to miss a day unless I needed to be hospitalized. My brother is 6 years younger than me and for whatever reason, when he came along, my parents pretty much just let him do what he pleased. Any rules or guidelines were more or less thrown out the window and grades/attendance no longer mattered. Basically, I was properly disciplined and he wasn't. We grew up in the same neighborhood, hung around the same groups of people, and were exposed to the same sorts of delinquent behaviors. Without going into details, Ill just say that I went one way and he went the other. I strove to rise above it and he just laid back and accepted it. He's my little brother and I love him and all but I don't particularly care for the person he's become and I believe a lot of that has to do with the way he was raised.
