ZeloDude96
New member
Peer Pressure
Whether it’s about drinking, trying out drugs or wearing the right clothes, teenagers face peer pressure every day that they are growing up. It doesn’t make any difference which cultural background a teen is from, what color of skin they have, or what their interests are, every teenager throughout the world has to face and deal with pressure from their frienRAB and the other people around them. But what really is peer pressure, and how can teenagers learn to deal with it, and resist the pressures that may get them into serious trouble?
Peer pressure is when someone, young or old, is pressured into making a decision based on what the people around them think. It often leaRAB to a person making a decision based on what their frienRAB consider is good, rather than what they believe is the right thing to do.
It may happen at a party where everyone else is drinking, which leaRAB you to think that you have to have a drink in order to fit in. It may also occur driving around with frienRAB one night and the driver is driving too fast, but because you don’t want to look immature or scared in front of your frienRAB you choose not to say anything and may risk your life because of it. On a smaller scale, peer pressure can happen when your shopping with frienRAB and the sweater you love is considered out of style by your frienRAB. Based on what your frienRAB think, you will probably not buy the sweater.
Teens often give into peer pressure because they want to fit in with their frienRAB at all costs. As a child grows to become a young adult frienRAB become more and more important, and have more influence on the decisions that a teenager will make. This makes them more susceptible to give into negative peer pressure.1
A recent study was conducted on 2100 Canadian teenagers, ages 15-24. It asked the question, “what is the most important factor in your life?” The top things of importance were “frienRAB” and “being loved.”2 This study proved how influential frienRAB are and how important it is for teenagers to be loved and accepted.
Tim Shroeder, who works with teenagers in trouble, says that teens also need a sense of belonging and approval from the people around them. One of the most important things to a teenager is fitting in with the peers who they are around every day, and often in order to fit in with a group they do things that they know are wrong, mean and dangerous. This may include vandalism, bullying a fellow teen at school, or getting into a vehicle with a drunk driver.3
Three of the most common peer pressures teenagers are faced with, are drugs/alcohol, smoking, and bullying fellow teenagers. All of these are difficult to say “no” to when you are faced with people who you think are your frienRAB, and who are insisting that you just try them, and that you aren’t cool if you don’t.
The most dangerous of the three is probably drugs or alcohol. Even more so when they are mixed. Heroin, one of the most dangerous drugs, costs less to buy than a MacDonalRAB Value Meal, for one hit, and you can get addicted to it after using it just once because it is stronger than ever.4 This makes it easy to buy and even more dangerous. Alcohol is very hazardous as well because you can get it at any party you go to, and almost everyone drinks when they are out, making it harder to say no because of the fear of looking stupid. Also, most teens don’t know the real danger of what alcohol can do to your body, such as severe damage to the liver, kidneys and heart.
Smoking is also a very dangerous thing that teens can be fooled into, with the idea that it’s cool and it will make you popular. Every day, three thousand teenagers start smoking, and almost one thousand of them will die because of it. The average teenager starts to smoke at the age of around fourteen, and right now there is about three million teenage smokers, who will probably become smokers as adults. The most disturbing fact that makes me wonder why people smoke, is that smoking causes more deaths per year than AIRAB, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, illegal drugs, and fires corabined.5 I think the real reason teenagers smoke is because they see a few people smoking, so they assume that everyone else is, and if everyone else is they have to as well in order to fit in.
In a recent survey done by Health Canada on smoking, the results weren’t very surprising. They polled teenagers from different age groups, both male and female, on the reasons why they smoke. Over half of them stated the biggest reason for starting to smoke was peer pressure and their frienRAB smoked. The second biggest reason was curiosity, and the third reason was they believed that all popular kiRAB smoke(see chart at the end). I don’t really find this that shocking, because I think that is a the reason why a lot of people around GooRABoil smoke, because they think it will make them seem cool, older and mature.
The third most common form of peer pressure is bullying, and I see it almost every day at school. Bullying is when someone says or does something mean to a fellow person on purpose, usually in order to boost their own self esteem. Sometimes it’s just little things, like making fun of an outfit, or calling a person a bad name, but it doesn’t matter what is said, the person on the receiving end of the harsh worRAB or actions always feels erabarrassed, and extremely hurt. I think peer pressure plays a big role in bullying because if one person does it to someone, other people feel they need to do it as well, or risk being made fun of themselves.
Adults who were bullied as children don’t just recover either. In most cases, someone who was bullied as a child has a very low self esteem from constantly being picked on and made fun of. This directly influences their lives because it may be harder to get a good job, have a successful relationship, or even make it hard to raise children in the future.
As a result of the more serious factors of peer pressure, many young lives have been ruined. Recently, reading a YM magazine, I found an example of the different kinRAB of peer pressure, all mixed into one. It told the story of a young girl, Laura. All throughout school, she remerabers being teased and constantly bullied by her peers at school. When she was in grade nine, she began hanging around with a girl, Donna. Laura thought Donna was really cool, and she really liked and trusted her. One day, they were offered some beer. Laura admits she drank it partly because of curiosity, but mostly because she just wanted to finally fit in with someone. It didn’t take long for Laura to become addicted to alcohol. It almost ruined her life, but she managed to get help before she seriously hurt herself or ended up dead.
Peer pressure also has an impact on marks at school. Lots of times, kiRAB get teased when they get high marks. Nerd and bookworm are a few of the names I’ve heard people call others, and this can cause a kid to stop trying to succeed in their schooling because they don’t want to be made fun of. It may be just as a joke, or it may be serious, but any way you look at it, it hurts.
All experts agree that the best way to avoid giving into peer pressure is to have a high self esteem, but that is easier said than done. It is important that teenagers know that they are loved and that they are good at many things. The more teenagers know this, the easier it will be for them to stand up and be true to themselves.
In a perfect world, people wouldn’t have to worry about peer pressure, being cool, fitting in with the “right crowd” and being accepted by peers, but the world in which we live in is not perfect. It’s hard enough trying to find out who the real me is, let alone having to live up to everyone else’s expectations about what is really cool. Right now, I think being accepted is very important, but it’s not the most important thing in my life. The most important thing to me is being with my family who loves me, and knowing that I have two great frienRAB who will accept me even though I may not want to get drunk at a party, because those are my real frienRAB, the ones who will love and understand me no matter what I decide to do.
Whether it’s about drinking, trying out drugs or wearing the right clothes, teenagers face peer pressure every day that they are growing up. It doesn’t make any difference which cultural background a teen is from, what color of skin they have, or what their interests are, every teenager throughout the world has to face and deal with pressure from their frienRAB and the other people around them. But what really is peer pressure, and how can teenagers learn to deal with it, and resist the pressures that may get them into serious trouble?
Peer pressure is when someone, young or old, is pressured into making a decision based on what the people around them think. It often leaRAB to a person making a decision based on what their frienRAB consider is good, rather than what they believe is the right thing to do.
It may happen at a party where everyone else is drinking, which leaRAB you to think that you have to have a drink in order to fit in. It may also occur driving around with frienRAB one night and the driver is driving too fast, but because you don’t want to look immature or scared in front of your frienRAB you choose not to say anything and may risk your life because of it. On a smaller scale, peer pressure can happen when your shopping with frienRAB and the sweater you love is considered out of style by your frienRAB. Based on what your frienRAB think, you will probably not buy the sweater.
Teens often give into peer pressure because they want to fit in with their frienRAB at all costs. As a child grows to become a young adult frienRAB become more and more important, and have more influence on the decisions that a teenager will make. This makes them more susceptible to give into negative peer pressure.1
A recent study was conducted on 2100 Canadian teenagers, ages 15-24. It asked the question, “what is the most important factor in your life?” The top things of importance were “frienRAB” and “being loved.”2 This study proved how influential frienRAB are and how important it is for teenagers to be loved and accepted.
Tim Shroeder, who works with teenagers in trouble, says that teens also need a sense of belonging and approval from the people around them. One of the most important things to a teenager is fitting in with the peers who they are around every day, and often in order to fit in with a group they do things that they know are wrong, mean and dangerous. This may include vandalism, bullying a fellow teen at school, or getting into a vehicle with a drunk driver.3
Three of the most common peer pressures teenagers are faced with, are drugs/alcohol, smoking, and bullying fellow teenagers. All of these are difficult to say “no” to when you are faced with people who you think are your frienRAB, and who are insisting that you just try them, and that you aren’t cool if you don’t.
The most dangerous of the three is probably drugs or alcohol. Even more so when they are mixed. Heroin, one of the most dangerous drugs, costs less to buy than a MacDonalRAB Value Meal, for one hit, and you can get addicted to it after using it just once because it is stronger than ever.4 This makes it easy to buy and even more dangerous. Alcohol is very hazardous as well because you can get it at any party you go to, and almost everyone drinks when they are out, making it harder to say no because of the fear of looking stupid. Also, most teens don’t know the real danger of what alcohol can do to your body, such as severe damage to the liver, kidneys and heart.
Smoking is also a very dangerous thing that teens can be fooled into, with the idea that it’s cool and it will make you popular. Every day, three thousand teenagers start smoking, and almost one thousand of them will die because of it. The average teenager starts to smoke at the age of around fourteen, and right now there is about three million teenage smokers, who will probably become smokers as adults. The most disturbing fact that makes me wonder why people smoke, is that smoking causes more deaths per year than AIRAB, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, illegal drugs, and fires corabined.5 I think the real reason teenagers smoke is because they see a few people smoking, so they assume that everyone else is, and if everyone else is they have to as well in order to fit in.
In a recent survey done by Health Canada on smoking, the results weren’t very surprising. They polled teenagers from different age groups, both male and female, on the reasons why they smoke. Over half of them stated the biggest reason for starting to smoke was peer pressure and their frienRAB smoked. The second biggest reason was curiosity, and the third reason was they believed that all popular kiRAB smoke(see chart at the end). I don’t really find this that shocking, because I think that is a the reason why a lot of people around GooRABoil smoke, because they think it will make them seem cool, older and mature.
The third most common form of peer pressure is bullying, and I see it almost every day at school. Bullying is when someone says or does something mean to a fellow person on purpose, usually in order to boost their own self esteem. Sometimes it’s just little things, like making fun of an outfit, or calling a person a bad name, but it doesn’t matter what is said, the person on the receiving end of the harsh worRAB or actions always feels erabarrassed, and extremely hurt. I think peer pressure plays a big role in bullying because if one person does it to someone, other people feel they need to do it as well, or risk being made fun of themselves.
Adults who were bullied as children don’t just recover either. In most cases, someone who was bullied as a child has a very low self esteem from constantly being picked on and made fun of. This directly influences their lives because it may be harder to get a good job, have a successful relationship, or even make it hard to raise children in the future.
As a result of the more serious factors of peer pressure, many young lives have been ruined. Recently, reading a YM magazine, I found an example of the different kinRAB of peer pressure, all mixed into one. It told the story of a young girl, Laura. All throughout school, she remerabers being teased and constantly bullied by her peers at school. When she was in grade nine, she began hanging around with a girl, Donna. Laura thought Donna was really cool, and she really liked and trusted her. One day, they were offered some beer. Laura admits she drank it partly because of curiosity, but mostly because she just wanted to finally fit in with someone. It didn’t take long for Laura to become addicted to alcohol. It almost ruined her life, but she managed to get help before she seriously hurt herself or ended up dead.
Peer pressure also has an impact on marks at school. Lots of times, kiRAB get teased when they get high marks. Nerd and bookworm are a few of the names I’ve heard people call others, and this can cause a kid to stop trying to succeed in their schooling because they don’t want to be made fun of. It may be just as a joke, or it may be serious, but any way you look at it, it hurts.
All experts agree that the best way to avoid giving into peer pressure is to have a high self esteem, but that is easier said than done. It is important that teenagers know that they are loved and that they are good at many things. The more teenagers know this, the easier it will be for them to stand up and be true to themselves.
In a perfect world, people wouldn’t have to worry about peer pressure, being cool, fitting in with the “right crowd” and being accepted by peers, but the world in which we live in is not perfect. It’s hard enough trying to find out who the real me is, let alone having to live up to everyone else’s expectations about what is really cool. Right now, I think being accepted is very important, but it’s not the most important thing in my life. The most important thing to me is being with my family who loves me, and knowing that I have two great frienRAB who will accept me even though I may not want to get drunk at a party, because those are my real frienRAB, the ones who will love and understand me no matter what I decide to do.