Blog Post 1: Effects and Causes of Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is a form of social pressure by a group for one to take action in order to be accepted. It is associated with taking risk and making decisions, activities involved in peer pressure often occur in the company of peers. On the other hand, peer pressure can also give positive effects to teens when they have the right people to deal and hang out with.

I've read several articles to fully understand the different effects of peer pressure the youth has been experiencing nowadays. First article I've read was written by Katrina Brown Hunt entitled “Peer Pressure: How It Affects You; How you eat, exercise, and feel is influenced by your friends.” She said that when you are a teenager, friends play very important role in defining who you really are. She also reiterated that peer pressure is more than just someone  offering you to try smoking and drinking and saying “Hey, try this.” It can affect a teen in anything he does. 

Eileen Stone, an adolescent psychologist at Sanford Health in Fargo, N.D.  says, "You can start the day one way, and after being with your friends, come home with almost a different personality. You can end up absorbing their attitudes, or the language they use, as you work on your own identity."

Well for me, Ms. Stone is definitely correct. The people around us, peers, colleagues, whatever you call them can easily influence us, and this can be a good or a bad thing. If we are trying to make positive changes in our lifestyle, such as eating healthy or going on an exercise daily, feeling good about ourselves and others, then keeping these positive people is the right thing to do. We should always remember that the people around us can easily affect our mood, they can change the way we see certain things in life, they can annoy or please us with their attitude. If we do not feel good about ourselves most of the time, maybe we are surrounding ourselves with the “not-so-positive” people. 

The second article I've read was about the “Common Causes of Peer Pressure in Teens” by Alice Langholt. She explained that adolescents develop a strong desire to fit in with their peers and be accepted by the society.     

Alice said “An obvious form of peer pressure is teen drinking at parties. Kids who attend are expected to drink and some may be expected to drink heavily. Subtler forms of peer pressure exist in clothing choices or attitudes toward sex or drug use. Simply agreeing with the group's attitudes usually isn't enough; teens have to prove themselves by backing their words with actions.”

I agree with what she said, oftentimes peer pressure is much more subtle. I think it is very important for parents to equip their children with the skills needed or dealing with peer pressure. If teens do not feel confident with themselves or with their decisions they will be more likely to be involved in illegal or prohibited activities, just because they are seeking self-acceptance. Their self worth are being forgotten once they are lacking confidence.