Peers are people your age or close to it, who have experiences and interests similar to yours. Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a friend or friends in encouraging a person to do something that you do not want to do. Peer pressure is one thing that all teens have in common, and almost everyone faces peer pressure once in a while. You can’t escape it; it is everywhere. No matter how popular you are, how well-liked you may be, or how together you feel, sooner or later you will have to face peer pressure but how successfully you handle peer pressure depends a great deal on how you feel about yourself and your place in the world.
Nearly everyone wants to be liked and to feel that we belong. This often means wanting to fit in with the crowd – having similar clothes, music, doing the same things, and going to the same places. There is nothing wrong with this as long as you don’t feel under pressure to do something that you cannot afford or feel uncomfortable doing.
Peer Pressure can be broken down into two areas; good peer pressure and bad peer pressure. Bad peer pressure is being coerced into doing something that you didn’t want to do because your friends said that you should, e.g., take drugs, smoke, bullying, unsafe sex, etc. Good peer pressure, on the other hand, is being pushed into something that you didn’t have the courage to do or just didn’t cross your mind to do; it can also be a situation when your friends convince you not to do something you were going to do because it wasn’t in your best interest.
In positive peer pressure, one can find Friendship where you find acceptance and share experiences that can build lasting bonds; Positive Examples, e.g., having peers who are committed to doing well in school or to doing their best in a sport, can influence you to be more goal-oriented, too. Peers who are kind and loyal influence you to build these qualities in yourself; Feedback and Advice; Socializing which gives you a chance to learn how to expand your circle of friends, build relationships, and work out differences and new experiences where your peers might get you involved in clubs, sports, or religious groups among others.
Youth peer pressure is one of the most frequently referred-to forms of negative peer pressure. It is particularly common because most youths are forced to spend large amounts of time in fixed groups regardless of their opinion of those groups. Also, young people are more willing to behave negatively towards those who are not members of their own peer groups. To avoid negative pressure:
- Make friends with those who share the same values as you and who don’t do things that you might question.
- Avoid uncertain places or situations.
- Think about what pressure you might encounter and how to respond to it.
- Introduce your peers to your parents.
The very first thing one should do when peers are trying to talk you into doing something stops and think. Too many times, one gets into trouble by just going along with the crowd. Here are some of the suggestions that might help.
Think about what the group is asking you to do. Is it wrong? Is it illegal? Why are you tempted to go along? Is it status? Are you afraid to be embarrassed? E.t.c if you have an uneasy feeling, something is probably wrong.
Think about what could happen and ignore all the statements like; everybody does it, what’s wrong with you? Or there is no way we will get caught. Those are not good reasons to go along.
Decide beforehand what you are going to do or say and Get out of situations in which you know you could be pressured.
Stick to your values and morals, and do not compromise the good things you believe in. Talk to your parents and let them know what’s going on in your life. Tell them the good things that happened or the problems you encountered. If not, talk to a trusted adult whom you can trust.
In conclusion, teens, like adults, are influenced by their peer group. This is normal behavior and is modeled for them by the adults around them almost every minute of every day, and it’s just a part of growing up and helps the development of independence and identity. We all conform to the social standards set by our peer groups; with this, teens will tend to follow their peers in behaviors that are not considered appropriate or where they will leave their common sense behind. Part of the reason is the newly found importance of friendships, as teens are just getting used to their friends having any say in what they do. Then there is the “everyone is doing it attitude” that can make a teen feel compelled to comply.