Blog Post 7: The cool spot; Peer Pressure, Alcohol and Drugs

Some might be feeling pressure from your friends, other people, or society as a whole through movies, music or advertising to use drugs or drink alcohol. Sometimes teens think about both the advantages and disadvantages of their actions and decisions but they seldom focus on the advantages of those.

In this post, I will share some of my insights regarding peer pressure and substance abuse, drugs and alcohol which are the most common forms of peer pressure. I've read some articles about this topic. One article I've read was written by Chris Becker entitled "Managing Pressure to use drugs or alcohol." He defined peer pressure as the feeling of being influenced to do something you wouldn't usually do because your peers are doing it. He said that it can  be a major factor in deciding whether you will try drugs or drink alcohol. Peer Pressure can be determined as negative when it causes you to do things you do not usually do. For example, you really don't want to try drugs or drink alcohol but it leaves you no choice since your friends are doing it.

He said "Part of being your own person means making decisions based on what is best for you, taking ownership and responsibility for what you do and how you think-but this doesn't mean that you can’t be a valuable part of a group."

I definitely agree with what he said, we are our own master. We, ourselves, we should know how to control what we are doing and think twice before doing anything. We must be very aware on the decisions we do, the actions we take and the consequences that we will face.

Another article I've read was written by Stephen J. Bahr entitled "Parental and Peer Influences on the Risk of Adolescent Drug Use" he said that When adolescents associate with peers who use drugs, they are much more likely to initiate drug use and adolescents who use drugs tend to choose friends who use drugs too.

He said "It is well established that peers have a strong influence on adolescent decisions to use drugs. An important practical question is how  family characteristics might influence the choice of peers."

It is true that family especially parents have the biggest influence on how a teen can choose their friends. Parents must take time to know who their child's friends are and take time to bond with them or at least know them personally. In this way, they would know what kind of people their kids are hanging out with. They would easily know if these people are good or bad influence to their kids.