In reading this article several thoughts went through my head. It is so easy to allow yourself sometimes to fall into the "Yes man" catagory. I know that my husband works for a company that if you're not a "yes man" you're not going far up the ladder. Well, guess what...he's not a yes man!

There is also peer pressure out there for both kids and adults. My husband and I are the Youth Leaders at our church. Working with Teenagers can be a real treat and a stressful time. No one in the group ever wants to disagree with a certain person in the group thinking they will make that someone mad. It's just an ongoing struggle to get this stopped. We want them all to make up their own individual minds about things. Just like being in the classroom we want our students to think for themselves. We want them to obey our rules, but sometimes children will fall along behind their peers and break the rules.

Another thing that came to my mind while reading this article is about some former Teachers that I know. These people were great Teachers and Role Models. However, they have quit teaching and pulled their children out of the Public Schools. Their children are either being Home Schooled or enrolled in a Christian School. These people are very close friends and their children are about the same ages. Now, I ask you does this sound like people have made their own individual decisions or do you think group influences has played a role in their decision? I don't understand what ever happened for them to think that they didn't want to teach anymore. I wonder...do they feel that the Public Schools aren't good enough for their children?

The bottom line is that we need to teach children to think for themselves, to try not to be influenced so much by others, and to grow into mature decisive adults. We need to teach them to be Leaders not Followers.

I agree that we need to teach our students how to think for themselves. Throughout our lives we have always been taught to obey our parents and our teachers. We take for granted that these people know what they are talking about all the time. We need to be able to rationalize what we are taught and told to do. Then we can see for ourselves if we agree with them, and then we can act appropriately.

I agree with you Wanda, we do need to teach children to think for themselves. Working in the school system I see alot of students being influenced by their peers. It 's not only the high school or middle school group, it also happens with the lower grades as well.