Reply To: Dose of reality: Kids kicked out of school

Aries

I dont know how strong you expect a 11-14 year old to be in his beliefs. But its not all beliefs. If a kid has bad friends, bad influences in his class that will beat his beliefs any day. A kid these days doesnt have the strength to battle such a challenge when his friend and classmate introduces him to improper things.

Let me show you a vort I found recently,

Can A Malach Protect Your Children From Their Friends?

Chazal tell us that when Rivkah would pass by a house of Avodah Zara, Eisav would push to get out. When she passed by a Makon Torah, Yaakov would start pushing. Why would Yaakov push to get out if we know that in the mother’s womb, a child has a Malach that teaches him Kol HaTorah Kula? What could be a more ideal for Yaakov than remaining in a protected place learning torah with a Malach?

The Baalei Mussar say that we learn from here that even if your Rebbi is a Malach, if you have a bad chavrusa or you have bad friends, you need to run away. The impact of your peers cannot be diminished even while learning with a Malach.

While there will be better moral authorities and less good ones in your children’s life, their friends are more of a constant. They tend to turn over less and have a huge influence over your children, even if your child is sitting and learning torah with a Malach.

(From revach.net)

So your kid can be easily influenced by others even if he comes from a great family and has the proper beliefs ok?

The influence that a bad friend can have is likely the strongest influence there is. Thats why schools must be very tough about getting rid of kids who are a bad influence. It doesnt matter how great the Rebbe is, you see? He cant beat the influence of a bad kid.