The Positive And Negative Effects Of Peer Pressure

I believe I should be selected for the Schulich Leader Scholarship because I have been academically successful, demonstrate leadership capabilities, and believe that my dreams and creativity will allow me to paint the future with bright colours, for myself and others. My experiences make me unique from anyone else, and I hope to do myself justice in six hundred words.

If one hears the name, Martin Luther King Jr., they often associate this well-known man to his well-known “I Had A Dream” speech. Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the African-American civil rights movement. While to many he is most known as just a ‘dreamer’, in Gospel of Freedom, Jonathan Rieder enlightens all on how Martin Luther King Jr. was much more than his “I Had A Dream” speech. It is a surprising thing that nowadays, when being taught throughout primary and secondary school, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter” from Birmingham jail was hardly talked about in historical contexts, or at the very least mentioned. Was it deemed not as important to show all sides of this famous activist? Martin Luther King Jr. has always been seen as this peaceful yet passionate leader fighting for justice. His “Letter” that he drafted shows a more furious, but still passionate side to him. A side that this “Letter” also helped show how the civil rights movement really worked.

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).

Opening: Benjamin Franklin once famously said: “They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety.” I hope by the end of this speech you agree with this founding father. Because, that’s right, we are talking about the USA PATRIOT Act and the idea of freedom versus security, otherwise known as Hollywood’s go-to theme for the past decade. This is how I imagine how every conversation goes in every writers’ room in LA: “Hey, Mark?” “Yeah, Steve, what do you need?” “Well, I just can’t seem to make my superhero screenplay appeal to a modern audience.” “Hmm…Have you tried setting your story against the backdrop of a society conflicted by its own unstoppable spiral into an Orwellian hellscape?”

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.

Teenage smoking can be a result of the influence of other teens, or maybe the amount of peer pressure. This can cause a teen to want to smoke or even think about smoking (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Statistics show that 794 student and 22.4 percent of teens claimed to be tobacco users. (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Teens tend to be more abrasive when smoking, and seem to act different while smoking and once they have gotten into the habit of smoking make it a constant thing. In 2003, 21.9 percent of high school students currently smoke cigarettes (Alcid, Arthur, page 1).

Even though risky behavior and peer pressure can have a variety of different meanings for people, typically, it is a relation to drugs or alcohol. Most of the time, it seems that the most well-known types of peer pressure come from friends partaking in a substance such as drugs or alcohol and trying to persuade someone else in the group. According to the article “Peer pressure and risk-taking behaviors in children” by Lewis and Lewis (1984), peer pressure is a major factor in the development of risk-taking behaviors such as alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. (Lewis & Lewis, 1984) Not only are these risk-taking behaviors prevalent throughout life, but most specifically throughout college. In their book Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, and Schulenberg (2009), all suggest that the biggest difference between college students and their non-college peers is largely due to the environment at college. (Johnston et al., 2009)

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

Another problem that teens face on a daily basis is peer pressure. Teens face these pressures every day about simple things such as who they like or dont like, what games they play, what they wear, etc. These may seem harmless, but when it comes to peer pressure about more dangerous things, the concept is the same. Teens face peer pressure to drink alcohol. 00% of teens say that they feel the effects of peer pressure according to some study....

There are two different types of peer pressure. Negative peer pressure is when teens feel pressured to do something they know is wrong. Positive peer pressure is when your friends push you to do something that is good and helpful to others. “Negative peer pressure can lead to, smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or stealing, or doing something you don't want to do such as cutting class or having sex.” (Unknown; Positive and Negative Peer Pressure). Teens may be tempted to give in to negative peer pressure because they want to be liked or fit in. They may also do it because they are afraid of being made fun of, or they want to try something other teens are doing.

There are 3 different types of peer pressure, the first one is direct. Direct peer pressure is when other teenagers pressure an individual into making a choice. The second type is indirect peer pressure, which is when a teenager is exposed to something negative like smoking, but they aren't directly told to participate. The last type is individual, which is when an individual feels the

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

The author Rachel Kranz in “Straight Talk About Smoking,’ states, “Smoking more means that Lynette has less to spend on pizza and after-school snacks, because she’s got to make sure she can afford three or four packs of cigarettes each week.” (Kranz). Peer pressure to smoke can also be a way of teenagers proving that they are mature. Maturity is something that all teenagers have been told to obtain; especially by adults. The legal smoking age in most states is twenty-one, and most adults do smoke. Teenagers think that they can feel more grown up when they smoke and fit in society. Kaz Vorpal in the book of “Teen Smoking,’” states, “Adults do certain things, and therefore children who do those things feel they are more like grownups.” (Vorpal 66). Movies also contributes to teen smoking by portraying smoking as a cool, pleasurable, and harmless thing. All these factors give the teen a pressure to start smoking and never realize that the Nicotine that is found in the cigarette is addictive and causes major health problems like cancer.

Peer pressure is most commonly found in the ages of 12-19 years old. Some teens have the tendency to let their peers talk them into doing things they wouldn’t normally do. The most common experiences of peer pressure happen throughout high school and college. They want to be accepted by their peers so they will often do several things to impress them. Some feel like since others are doing it they have to do it too in order to fit it. There are many varieties of peer pressure it could be how you walk or talk, what clothes you wear, and the type of music you listen to. Most teens are still learning to adapt to

Teenagers who are involved with peer pressure face many challenges with his or her own decision-making. Teens may be going through a phase of peer pressure and not even notice that they are being pressured (Peer Pressure 1). The peers who