Visit any junior high or high school and you will experience the power of influence. Clothing, hairstyles, attitudes and even the language are all gained by some amount of influence, whether it is from commercials, fashion, trends, celebrities or music. Teens and preteen children are influenced by these various factors. However, a child’s friends are the No. 1 influence. Before you think your children’s friends could never lead one another astray (误入歧途的), think again. A child may experience an event that has caused overwhelming stress or may have problems at home or school, which causes negative behavior. Negative influences of a child’s friends can come without warning. “Parents who ask their children where they are going, who they are going with and request a meeting with their children’s friends and the friends’ parents have already taken the first step,” says Mara Berkley, family therapist and professor at Bristol University in Rhode Island. Lynn Rexroat of Chillicothe, Illinois, uses this method to keep tabs on her children. “My oldest son knows that in order for him to go anywhere with a friend, especially one I haven’t met before, I have to speak with that friend’s parent to make sure the arrangements are agreeable with us both,” she says. “I don’t interrogate (质问) them by asking about their private life. I just want to know that the parents of the other child know what the boys are planning to do. I feel that by my wanting to know I am protecting my son.” When a parent suspects that their child is hanging out with “the wrong crowd”, the last thing on their mind should be discipline. Instead, Berkley says a parent should be more interested in finding out the reasons behind the behaviors and the child’s choice to keep company with these types of friends. 小题1:We can infer from the second paragraph that .
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