Friends will have the largest impact, outside of family, of who your kiddo becomes. They will absorb values and character from them.

Why do we have friends and how do we pick them? A good friend is ambitious for your future and makes you behave better than you would, but is loyal when you get knocked down.

Proverbs 27:17 "Like iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another".

Proverbs 1:8-19

MrBeast had a group of friends he spent four hours a day with, and together they refined their YouTube videos — he would not have nearly half a billion subscribers without them.

While slinging:

Tell a story of a friend who either went down the right path or wrong path because of the company they kept. If you want extra points tell a hard story about yourself.

Questions to ask

• Who are two people who are good influences and you should hang out with more?
• Who are two people who are bad influences and you should spend less time with?
• Who do you want to become? (set standards)
• Why did you choose the good friends? (what is reality)
• Do those friends push you to become that? (how can we align reality with what we want?)

Teens spend on average 5 hours a day on social media.

Often overlooked when we think about influences — music, social media, movies, etc. — constantly tell our kiddos how life is. It takes only 67 times on average for a repeated idea to be latched onto by their subconscious. But we need to teach them they are not at the mercy of the messaging — they can choose what to put in.

Questions

• What are you spending a lot of time on? Your phone, video games, sports, etc.?
• Do you know what kind of messages that they are telling you? (you can't track Social media reels)
• Let's decide what kind of things we will let our brains munch on.

Our kiddos' own thoughts can deceive them and tell them to believe things that are simply not true, and their emotions will add weight to them. "No one likes you," "you're stupid," "you are unwanted."

While slinging

Tell a story about a time when you believed something that was not true about yourself. I'm not: worthy/wanted, "I am above this", "I'm stupid", and I am "weak/untalented" are good topics.

Questions

What bad things has your brain been telling you?

Why did you start believing that?

Let's decide what kinds of thoughts we will let stay.

Some people are not out for our best interests. They may be in positions of authority or pretend like they want you, but they want something out of you or want obedience.

While slinging

Tell a story about a time when someone told you something untrue and you believed them. Be willing to be vulnerable — how did it feel? Walk through the whole story and don't jump to how you solved it.

Questions

• Has anyone deceived you on purpose?
• Who has your back to make sure you will be okay if you are deceived?
• How do we tell if someone is deceiving us?
• When should we forgive someone for deceiving us, leave the relationship, or call them out?

We don't always know the right answer — sometimes we need to seek wise counsel. God is the originator of wisdom and we can receive it through the Bible, prayer, parents, and mentors.

Proverbs 8:10-11 "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her."

While slinging

Tell a story about how God has changed you from who you were and made you more than you thought you could be.

Questions

• When was there a time when you didn't know the right thing to do?
• Where would you like to find answers when you don't know? (Bible, parents, siblings)
• Have you looked at the book of Proverbs before?