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Your Kid's Success At School Might All Depend On Their Friends

Keep your friends close.

A little bit of peer pressure isn't always a bad thing.

According to a new study done by Michigan State University that looked at the success rate of students who were given pep talks, it was revealed that students who received motivational speeches from their peers achieved higher grades on their essays, compared to the ones who received the same speech from a teacher.

A group of students enrolled in an online psychology course were given rationales for the importance of the course and how it would benefit them in the future from either a peer or a teacher. Essentially, the researchers wanted to see whether the student's performance would change based on who spoke with them beforehand.

The results of the study showed that students who were spoken to by a peer achieved an average of 92 per cent, while the students who received rationales from a teacher achieved an average of 86 per cent.

The co-author of the study, Cary Roseth, explained in a press release that "this gives support to the idea that, motivationally, the fact that instructors control grades, tell the students what to do, and so on, may be working against their efforts to increase their students' appreciation of why the class is important."

Even the students who didn't speak to a peer achieved a higher average on the essay than the ones who had a teacher deliver the rationale to them.

So if your kid is feeling a little unmotivated at school, perhaps it has to do with the way the teacher is delivering the lesson — or maybe there’s a lack of motivation within his friend group.

"The fact that instructors control grades, tell the students what to do, and so on, may be working against their efforts to increase their students' appreciation of why the class is important."

Having a solid group of friends, or even just one friend, can go a long way for your kid.

According to a study published in 2015 by the British Journal of Psychology, having a strong and supportive friend can help a child become more resilient when facing adversity.

And as a parent, you can also help to ensure that your kid is developing strong relationships with their friends by being present when your child is playing with others and being able to teach them the important values of a good friendship. Healthychildren.org provides some great tips on how you can do so.

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