Causes and Effects of Peer Pressure
A negative effect of peer pressure is anything that someone forces another to do that makes them feel uncomfortable. It causes young individuals to do things they know is wrong which can be very dangerous. A teenage boy can convince a teenage girl to have sex with him because "everyone is doing it". The teenage girl might believe him, but she really did not want to.
The result could be a teenage pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. This is a life changing result from peer pressure. Negative peer pressure can cause teenagers to drink, do drugs, lie, cheat, and steal which can cause horrible things to occur to innocent people. Drinking is a negative effect of peer pressure. Young people may be influenced to drink Just to fit in or be in the spotlight. This type of drinking can occur at a party from winning a sporting event or a birthday party which could be prevented with parental supervision.
The effects of drinking can be memory loss, fatigue, black-outs, liver damage, and nausea. Drinking can cause illegal acts such as: driving while under the influence, possible rape while passed out, underage drinking, and possible death. Drinking at such a young age can cause the teenager to become an alcoholic which would be a lifetime disease. Driving while under the influence can cause death to others because of uncoordinated driving which is the effect of alcohol to the body. This could lead to involuntary manslaughter which causes imprisonment.
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This is another life changing event caused by peer pressure (Slake 2001). Drugs are a negative effect of peer pressure. Influencing teenagers to try drugs to go along with the crowd affects your body similar to drinking and causes teenagers to kill brain cells. If teenagers are hanging out with their friends, everyone is smoking marijuana except you; most teenagers do not want to be ridiculed because of lack of participation. This creates depression, withdrawn, poor grades, and negative effects to your body physically.
These types of effects can be long term causing problems later in adulthood such as: conceiving children, negative affects to appearance, and financial problems (Scott 1997). Negative effects of peer pressure can cause teenagers to lie, cheat, and steal. Teenagers will lie to their parents in order to hang out with certain groups. They lie because they know that it is wrong. They have friends that convince them to lie so they do not have to listen to a lecture or have the parents prevent them from doing something.
These same teenagers will cheat on school work and relationships in order to please the people that are influencing them to do these things (Kate 2013). Peer pressure causes teenagers to steal. Most teenagers will do almost anything to fit in and be important which creates them to fall under the influence of peer pressure. They might be dared to steal something from the store or from their family just to be accepted. These things cause problems for the stores or people they steal room, as well as, give the teenager a poor sense of being because they know what they are doing is wrong (Ginsburg 2001).
There are many negative effects of peer pressure. Popular, athletic, pretty, and well liked teenagers use their influence to cause other teenagers to forcibly do things they do not really want to do, but are desperate to fit in. These influences are peer pressure and causes problems with all those involved. Teenagers can be influenced to drink alcohol, smoke marijuana, lie to parents, cheat on homework, and steal from stores through peer pressure. All these things cause teenagers to do things they now are wrong which affects their sense of worth and others that are around them.
Peer Pressure, A Silent Destroyer
When people make an assessment of a teaching institution, the usual statistics will show its population size, its average success rate relative to the next high school or next university, and matters relate d to funding and facility. It is due to this that a main problem which I believe has an actual direct effect on the teaching & learning capability institution is missed out on. This problem would mean great impact on the learning curve and capacity of the student to focus and maximize the facilities given by the institution no matter how good they may be.
In common terms, we call it peer pressure. I believe in fact that it is because this is so common an experience that people may downplay its actual effect on a student or turn a blind eye to what it can do. In my own experience through earlier years I stood witness to this. It could be something as simple as people being pushed around in the hallway because their growth spurt was late and they were shorter than everyone else. Or, people being teased because their pants were too short or their clothes didn’t match.These issues seem childish and light, however considering the emotional makeup of a growing child or adolescent at this point, these can birth insecurities that scar one’s capacity to bloom later on. Are these incidents common? Absolutely. In fact, it is because they are common that they are missed out on. Schools will focus on building a new gym, or increasing the number of books to be read, or fine tuning the arithmetic and language curriculum. Now, don’t get me wrong. These things are very important in the quality of the individual. However, the school’s output is only one side of the coin.
The other side lies in a student’s capability to absorb and focus on the lesson at hand. How can a young individual give his or her best output into utilizing these tools, if he knows that once he steps of the classroom, the bullies will be pushing him against the locker, or the popular girls just might make fun of her again? Call it a seeming minor detail, but to a student in the growing year, “fitting in” and “belonging” can mean everything and certainly much more than a high grade. In my own school environment, my experience was the same. Friends of mine were subject to the similar treatment.
It was hard to look at, but then, the feeling at the time was that there was nothing anyone could do about it. I can only imagine how much better they would have done in school if they didn’t have to worry about these things. I’ve seen these things happen in my own world with my own eyes. I’m sure others have as well. In the newspaper or nighttime updates, every now and then we hear stories about a new student killed by fraternity hazing, or a student with a gun in school. The common reaction would be to turn away and say, “oh that wouldn’t happen in my school.
” Or “gosh, it so dangerous, but good thing it’s not in the area of my kids”. Really, would that be the same mindset of the parents and students who actually were part of the school community where the event occurred? Looking at online forums on peer pressure, various responses of how the youth today is affected are expressed, particularly the girls. Heavy alcohol drinking, smoking, taking drugs and underage sexual activity are now very widespread in the youth whether or not we agree to believe it, simply because of this desire to be accepted.
Conversations among them lie more on what the next person has done or not done, rather than on planning for the future. Many of them will be at parties getting drunk where it is played off as cool. Smoking and drug use are rampant as well. Even the pressure of having sex has grown over years, despite the media’s exposed risk of unwanted pregnancies or STD’s. Friends say it is “no big deal” and talk about it as if it was just sipping a cup of tea, and a requirement to be “normal”. So many of these issues circle the mind of a student, remain unaddressed, and cloud the student’s mind from focusing on what should be the priority at the time.
It is true that school facilities are important, however equally needed, is helping the students of today actually focus on using the school to create more of a future for themselves. The question remains though on how this problem can be addressed. True, it will not be an easy task, but if at all an attempt can be made to give students guidance and support during these hears of change, then at least some of them can be given the motivation to go against the grain and not succumb to the whims of peer pressure.
Friends are diaries to which we can share and unburden all of our secrets and emotions into. They can be wise and a strong pillar of strength, while at the same time can be sources of wrong influence. If a school can create a positive working environment and encourage right experiences and friendships, this would be a tool to help. Family is another factor. For some who have good relationships with family, allowing interaction with them can provide the child to open up and reach out.
For those whose families become unbearable, then it basically remains in letting the student have someone to talk to, chat with and trust, and ensuring such person is one who is understanding and capable of meeting the child at his level, whether it be a counselor, coach or friend. The problem does not lie on morals or lessons as these which are instilled in us in earlier youth remain there. The problem is that these very principles that we have prided ourselves in and held on to no longer empower us, as they are overshadowed by the need to ‘fit in’.
And as this need grows, then our mind is pushed away from focusing on what matter at the time, namely, studies and improvement of one’s skills for the future. I am thankful that somehow I made it through those years and continually make the effort to grow. My only hope is that children of the future can be given more support, that they may surpass these obstacles with more grace than many of my friends did, and focus earlier on working on their goals and dreams for their future.
?Peer Pressure
Have you ever been forced to do anything ? Have u ever felt that you are in a tight corner because of someone's comment? We all could face situations like that; we all could have faced peer pressure. What is peer pressure? "
Peer pressure is when someone or a group of people influences or encourages others to do things they do not want to do or tries to change people’s attitude, or behavior towards something or it is the feeling that someone of your own age is pushing you towards making a certain choice, good or bad"( http://www.thecoolspot.gov/pressures.asp). Peer pressure is mostly common among teens, they could accept to do something they don't want to do as their friends would make fun of them or everyone is just trying to fit in.
Because when you act in a different way you are considered an outsider and not cool. The desire to fit in can go as far as doing things you have never imagined. We all are influenced by our peers, both negatively and positively. It helps us to define who we are. It is how we chose to react to peer pressure that defines who we are as individuals. Are we a leader or a follower? Both types of people are needed to make the world go round or just you may lose yourself and forget who you are just to satisfy your peers. Peers influence your life, even if you do not realize it, just by spending time with you.
You learn from them, and they learn from you. It is only human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group. Peers can have a positive influence on each other. For example, a student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember something related to the subject. You might admire a friend who is always a good support for you and try to be like him, these are examples of how peers positively influence each other every day.
Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways. For example, some people in school might try to get you to cut class with them, or your friend might try to convince you to try to start smoking or taking drugs with him, or your friend in might want you to shoplift with him. The causes of peer pressure are so many, One of the main reasons that can lead to peer pressure is lack of self-confidence, the feeling of being alone, not accepted by anyone or by society, everyone is making fun of you and the desire to fit in, these reasons can affect anyone easily and put him under this pressure.
One of the causes also is changing the environment you are used to, like leaving high school and going to University, meeting new people with different characters and personalities. Or the big problem might be in the way parents bring up their children. This can affect society in good and bad ways. The effects of negative pressure can lead to the presence of cloning minds different people but have the same mentality, thinking in the same way and acting in an inappropriate way that is unacceptable by the society. A question that always comes up.
Why do people give in to peer pressure? People give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, may be Others go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that everybody is doing that thing can influence some people to leave their common sense behind and the way they judge things. How can people combat peer pressure? The normal way of just saying no does not work. Sure, it sounds good to say no but in reality, a person may want to say no, but just cannot as it is tough to be the only one who is facing this pressure, but on the other hand you can pay attention to your feelings and beliefs about the right and wrong things that can help you more self-confidence and having a strong pack up from parents, family even from your teachers can help you stand firm.
One of the solutions that help you to run away from peer pressure is to have at least one friend, who is willing to say no too. This takes a lot of the power out of this pressure and makes it much easier to resist. Try to ask for advise from your teacher or your family and they will support you facing peer pressure, stay away from friends who use drugs, smoke cigarettes, or even lying. Also try to help a friend who is facing peer pressure or having troubles resisting it, it can be so powerful to one of them by joining the other in order not to feel alone in this nightmare.
To sum up peer pressure is like a nightmare chasing us all, so If you continued to face peer pressure and you are finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you can trust and don't feel guilty if you have made mistakes. Stand up again and continue your way and prepare youself for the next time you face peer pressure.
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