Thoughts, behavior, fashion, and music often have a deep impact on our society. People and teenagers in particular, tend to get influenced by the lifestyles of their peer group. It is a person’s tendency to do what the crowd does. Few individuals have the courage to resist the peer pressure and be their own selves rather than being one amongst a group. Parents play a vital role to during this phase of a teenager’s life and must exhibit extreme caution when dealing with their adolescents, as they are most vulnerable to yield to peer pressure during these critical years of their lives. Teenagers must be taught to distinguish between the good and the bad; the right and the wrong. They must also be guided to be considerate in life. Parents have a major impact on the way peer pressure will affect their teens. Although peer pressure can be harmful and detrimental to teens, at times it can be beneficial as well.
Teens, like adults, are influenced by their peer group. This is normal behavior and it is modeled for them by the adults around them almost every minute of every day. Parents conform to the social standards set by their peer groups and teenagers observe this. Teens will tend to follow their peers in behaviors that are not considered appropriate by adults however will exalt them in the eyes of their peers. Part of the reason for these behaviors is that teens are just getting used to their friends having a say in what they do. The other part is the familiar phrase: "Everyone is doing it." The influence of peer pressure may be verbal, nonverbal or even unconscious on the part of the friends. Peer pressure is a powerful influence, one that parents need to understand so that they can instill values in their children which can ...
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...s are his close friends who do not pressure him to do things, rather inspire him to change himself for the better. Peer pressure can prod a person make the right decisions in life.
In the book The Importance of Peer Pressure! Bruce A. Epstein, M.D, states: "A healthy part of every child's development is involvement with their peers. This is especially true during adolescence, as teenagers develop a sense of independence from their parents." It is imperative for everyone, especially teenagers, to have strong support from family, the ability to differentiate between the positive and the negative, and the skill to choose good friends from their peers. These are all important in order to keep away from the negative affects of peer pressure, and to use the positive aspects of peer pressure to make life more meaningful and fulfilling for themselves and for others.
As a teenager we are all looking to be accepted by our peers and will do whatever it is they want us to so we can be accepted. That is to say the feeling of needing to be accepted by ones peers is done consciously; the person starts to do what their friends do without thinking about it. (Teen 3) In fact, teens are more likely to be affected by peer pressure because they are trying to figure out who they are. (How 1) Therefore, they see themselves as how their peers would view them so they change to fit their peer’s expectations. (How 1) Secondly, the feeling of needing to rebel and be someone that isn’t who their parents are trying to make them be affects them. (Teen 2) Thus, parents are relied on less and teens are more likely to go to their peers about their problems and what choices to make. (How 1) Also, their brains are not fully matured and teens are less likely to think through their choices thoroughly before doing it. (Teen 6) Lastly, how a child is treated by his peers can affect how they treat others; this can lead them into bullying others who are different. (Teen 3) Consequently this can affect a teen into doing something good or bad; it depends who you surround yourself with.
Identification with a peer group is a critical part of growing up because even though there is a mix between valuable and invaluable points, no one wants to be left with nobody to help them figure out how they fit in the world and get pass tough times. Peer pressure can have positive impacts and not so good but the postive are too valuable to overpass, leaning us over to conclude that classifying with a circle of close friends are a key factor when going into the real
There are just so many ways teenagers can be influenced through advice and suggestions of others. It may be because they want to fit in, make someone proud, so they can have a certain item or even all of the above.
“Peer Pressure: Its Influence on Teens and Decision Making.” 2008. Teacher Scholastic Journal. Retrieved 2008. (http://headsup.scholastic.com/articles/peer-pressure-its-influence-on-teens-and-decision-making).
"Parents and teachers often miss children's nascent understanding of group dynamics, as well as kids' willingness to buck to the pressure," Killen explains. Children begin to figure out the costs and consequences of resisting peer group pressure early. By adolescence, they find it only gets more complicated."
When an individual take on the behaviors, attitudes, and styles of their peers because of the pressure of fitting in, this is peer conformity, also known as peer pressure. In most cultures the amount of time we spend with our peers tends to increase, as well as the effect they provide for support. Peer influence can start as soon as the third grade for some an...
... instead of following the majority. The issue of peer pressure can relate to teens, as they are in constant pressure to be ‘cool’ or to be in the ‘in’ group. It does not really promote individualism, so people cannot develop their own ideas but rather follow the leader of their group.
Alert! Alert! We 've all seen it on TV shows and in the movies: a good kid with a good home and a good family life, but questionable friends. Soon enough, the kid is going out every night smoking, doing drugs, and partying. Every parenting book on the planet, it seems, has a section similar to this with warnings all over about how to save your child from the harmful, gripping effects of peer pressure. This all promotes the idea that peer pressure is damaging to school-children and teenagers. As a whole, society has become obsessed with individuals making decisions for themselves, so much so that we 've been trained to hear alarm bells when we think of peer pressure. However, though it is usually connoted as a negative influence, peer pressure perpetuates many positive qualities within a number of social situations.
Peer pressure is the influence from members of one’s peer group. Peer pressure affect many school aged children, and teenager, because of the desire to want to fit in. Affects of giving into peer pressure can lead to taking drugs, drinking alcohol, and having sex. By researching
Teenagers become caught up with following peers, because the decision is made to become involved in experimental activities by choice. On the other hand, peer pressure in teens can allow mature growth in the student, because the individual can them become a leader within an environment in a positive manner. According to kidshealth.org, “Getting to know lots of different people-
...t everyone else would expect him or her to do, especially their peers. It is a stress or strain that one feels from their friends and school mates to actually act, behave, think and look a certain way. But we can somehow lessen our exposure to peer pressure if we are involved with such teens that posses the same boundaries, ethics and interests that we do. It is therefore important to maintain a strong basis of ethics, both in the personal and social world, in order to withstand negative peer pressure and to restrict ourselves from being drawn into evil things, like joining gangs, drugs or any other self destructive activities. In the end, curbing such behaviour by reporting the wrongdoer is then better than turning a blind eye for the sake of our relationship with the person. Therefore any relationship should not be let to interfere with one's own beliefs and ethics.
Teens have more pressure to be cool, and to be accepted that's what makes them rebel of do what mom or dad had always told them not to do. They may know that it is wrong but it is all about looking cool for that second, or being safe and listen to your parents. Actually, when you are faced with a situation that you know is wrong you don't think about what your parents will think until you have already completed it and there is no turning back. Then there comes the punishment. That makes the teen rebel more and do more things to be "cool" and doesn't care.
Many of the choices teenagers make are influenced by peer pressure. Sure, I had an obsession with many trends growing up, but later on in life I heard a quote that really aimed at my thoughts, the quote was "The shoe doesn't make the man, the man makes the shoe. " After hearing the quote, I thought about what I did in my life to fit in, and realized that what a person wears, buys, or listens to, doesn't create who a person is. Peer pressure throws out the thought of being who you want to be; peer pressure is more reminiscent of "be like everybody else.
Peer pressure can be both a positive and negative influence and will challenge us do things whether they are right or wrong. This is left for you to determine. Peer pressure can influence several areas in your life like; academic performance, who you choose for friends, it can influence who you mat choose for a boyfriend or girlfriend, it can influence decisions about sex, it may change your feelings about alcohol and drug use, and it can even determine your fashion choice.
Everyone at one point or another has desire to fit into a group, whether it is friends, or something else. This is in our nature and this is what makes us humans. In whatever group they are, they wanna feel secure and have a sense of belonging to that group. But what if one’s so called friend betrays the individual or start doing things which are wrong and force the person to do it with them? This is what negative peer pressure is - trying to mess with the minds and forcing them to be an acquaintance with something which is illegal and wrong.