Peer-Pressure To Go To America

Peer pressure can be both good and bad. It can be good in the way of, say

Despite self-awareness, a person makes many decisions everyday, even if many are subtle. Getting out of bed, deciding what clothes to wear, and even the attitude you display to others. While there are many factors that contribute to these decision making, a major factor is who your peers are. Peers, whether they be a close friend, family member, or even a teacher, can influence what you aspire to do, and how you live your life. In The Other Wes Moore, peers’s play a big role shaping the lives and decisions of both Wes’s, further leading them to their places in the current world, just as peers have shaped my sister, Katie’s decisions as well. Friends heavily influence teenagers, attributing to teens’ stubbornness. By setting examples to follow, peers either set positive or negative standards that teens attempt to assimilate, gaining either positive or negative traits.

Conformity: Jailer and Enemy John F. Kennedy once said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth” (“John F. Kennedy”). This quote is most definitely true for any type of society. Whether it is the society in which John F. Kennedy lived in, present-day society, or the society that can be read about in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In this novel, the characters have no other choice than to conform to the society in which they inhabit.

After reading the two assigned readings and comparing it to the idea of conformity in full I have come a definite decision in my mind about the comparison and contrast of the two ideas given off in the first taste of the readings. I have seen that in “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks tells the tale of being not loose and free and having as little conformity as possible. Whereas, on the other hand, Junot Diaz’s idea of conformity in the excerpt we were assigned to read shows that the family’s ideas of conformity are very expected and it shows in their morals and they try to enforce it. Even though that’s not the case for Lola.

In consequence, Lessing is a remarkable writer and role model. She demonstrates eye-opening evidence about typical human behavior. I predict that the negative effects of peer pressure will never change for the better unless; more people want to make a change. Creating organizations like “Live above the Influence” will always fight a never-ending battle, and they will continue to bring awareness to negative peer pressure.

According to a research done by the Canadian Lung Association, 70% of teens started smoking because their friends smoked or because they felt peer pressure to try smoking. That would be a dangerous behavior caused by peer pressure. Here is another example of bad things caused by peer pressure; 55% of teens tried drugs for the first time because they felt pressured by their friends. Not all the times, but sometimes, people tend to do bad things with other people because they feel more secure with other people than being alone. In Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, the main character named Stargirl defies conformity and lives with her own mind. That is why I value Stargirl’s affection(Individuality) more than JMS students’ affection(conformity).

More than ever in this society as children find the need to belong or fit in to the popular crowd in school for acceptance they often tend to mimic their friends behaviors. This is often a result of the individual child trying to find him or herself. The results however, are not always negative. In fact, there are some positive results that may occur as a result of copying their peers. Simply stated, “When teens surround themselves with people who make good decisions and who are involved with positive activities and choices, it makes the adolescent child want to be better” (Stock, 2010 pg.2). Positive peers influence adolescents and can drive the child toward improved confidence, and improved grades in school. Inversely, the same can be said for the adolescent child who decides that he or she wants to be like his or her friends who have a negative influence. Children who fall into this category are those that are of the bandwagon philosophy. Those negatively impacted by peers often show signs of lower grades in school, increased distance from family. In fact, “peer pressure can lead to experimentation with drugs and alcohol, and various high risks behaviors” (Fact Sheets, 2009 pg.1). The changes in the adolescent child can have lasting effects depending on which type of peer influences that child may be surrounded by. The negative impact of peer pressure can be strong; however there are also positive influences.

Getting on our plane was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to, especially since my dad couldn’t come with us that day. December 8, 2010 was the day my family decided that moving to America would give me and my brother many more opportunities, keep in mind my parents hadn’t told us that we were moving to the US. I remember I had been hugging my dad saying goodbye to him and my mom had to come and grab me away from him. His face was through the window was the last thing I remember seeing before buckling my seat belt and laying down on my mother’s shoulder. Once we had landed my mother woke me up and said to me that I should help out with the luggage and the other belongings we had to take. The night went by probably faster than

The purpose of this literature review paper is to navigate and explore different effects in society towards peer pressure, conformity and rebellion. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: How does peer pressure, conformity, and rebellion affects adolescents in society? The main goal of this review is to have knowledge of the effects of this three concepts such as: peer pressure, conformity and rebellion.

Lastly, a teenage girl goes to the mall after school with the popular girls, but they begin encouraging her to steal an expensive pair of earrings in order to officially become a part of their group. These days, teenagers are so willing to do anything to befriend a group of people they disregard their morals and are only concerned about the approval of others. In today’s world, people find it extremely difficult to not conform to the beliefs and opinions of others because they do not want to feel ostracized.

Growing up as a teenager (between the ages of 13-19), you are exposed to many forms of peer pressure. Some of these forms causes us to think “is this really worth trying/doing?”, or “will my popularity

In modern-day society, there are numerous people who take pleasure in separating themselves from the typical standards of society; however, there are also people who feel uncomfortable expressing themselves in the own, distinctive ways. Because they feel this way, many adolescents believe that by camouflaging themselves into their peer’s behaviors and beliefs that they will fit in with social norm, accepted beliefs and behaviors in a social group or society, and the reason why they have this mentality, is because of the lack of confidence to express their ideas in their own unique ways. The belief that students and kids have to live up to social norms, are implemented on them by social influences, more specifically, their peers.

A movie that defines many of the issues adolescents are faced with is Rebel Without a Cause. For example, when Jim Stark repeatedly asks his father “what do you do when you have to be a man?” we see how Jim is dealing with Erikson’s stage of identity versus role confusion. Still only in high school, Jim is trying to figure out what stage in his life defines him as a man by his family and culture. He finds that although he may be gaining more privileges year by year, he is still under the control of his parents. There are also examples of risky behavior in this movie when Buzz challenges some thugs to a knife fight and when the teenagers engage in a game that involved jumping out of a car as late as possible before it goes over a cliff. Part of their logic behind doing this, as explained in the previous paragraph is because their brains were not yet fully developed and they felt as if they were indestructible. Lastly, there is also an example of peer pressure in the movie when Jim decides to engage in the knife fight after the thugs call him a “chicken”. Jim wanted to show his friends and others around him that he was not afraid to turn down a challenge and would do anything to beat these thugs, even if he secretly had some doubt in his mind. There are also other examples of peer pressure such as when the teenagers

In society today, people tend to make decisions based on the actions and choices of others. Peer pressure is a very real issue that affects most of the teenagers of the world today. it is a dangerous form of persuasion. It causes teenagers to easily succumb to unethical activities under the influence and pressure of their friends. people see the effects of

“Contemporary American society pulls teenagers away from school toward social and recreational pursuits. There is widespread peer pressure not to succeed academically. One of five students say that their friends make fun of people who try to do well in school. More than one-half of all students say they never discuss their schoolwork with friends.”