The Pros And Cons Of Peer Pressure

I sat in calculus class waiting impatiently for the teacher to pass back my exam. I look at the grade and then instinctively look behind me. My best friend, Sam, looked rather pleased; she understood this math lesson, and her grade reflected it. ‘One down one to go,’ I thought as I looked to my back left. My other best friend, Lettie, looked confused. I asked her what she got and she said a grade that was lower than mine. I grabbed her paper in disbelief. I compared the grades, and my grade was in fact a point higher. Lettie tried to shrug it off. She said that she just didn’t get it, or that she didn’t care about this little exam, because there were far more important assignments in her life at the time. The excuses were always

Although peer pressure affects everyone, and I mean everyone, there are times where you are more vulnerable of falling for peer pressure. As we become more independent from our parents we become more prone to falling for peer pressure. This is because as we start to make our own choices we consider the long term effects of our actions less and we usually don’t know what we want most of the times anyways.

Hannah Gray is an unpopular sixteen-year-old girl who absolutely loves going to school; she attends Central High, a large urban school in the middle a fast-paced city. As Hannah walks out of class, a group of popular students approach her, staring her up and down with crooked smiles. They tell Hannah that they’re going to skip the next class so they can sneak off behind the high school to smoke. One of the popular girls tells Hannah that she would be cool and fit in better if she snuck off with them. Hannah doesn’t want to break the rules at school, but she really wants to be accepted by the other students. She eventually politely declines their offer knowing that she could get in trouble if she were to leave with them and get caught. The situation that Hannah is in is a prime example of peer pressure; they tell her that she would fit in better if she snuck off with them. She was smart and made the right decision by saying no to them and going to her next class; however, many people can’t or won’t resist this pressure. What most people don’t realize is that others feel peer pressure more intensely from their close friends because they value their opinions more and don’t want to lose them as a friend. Peer pressure, which can be both good and bad, affects most people at one time or another and has a variety of either positive or negative effects.

“Don’t let anyone hold you back. Don’t let anyone dilute you. Don’t be peer pressured into being less than you are” (Steve Maraboli). This quote means that negative peer pressure can result in an individual acting out and behaving in a manner that is a downgrade from the person that is true to society. Often time, the community imagines peer pressure as teens influencing one another to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and sexual intercourse. But really all peer pressure is, is the encouragement of changing values and behaviors of an individual. Peer pressure can either be negative or positive depending on the situation a person is in and how strong the character of the individual is. Though peer pressure is often used in negative instances, it can also be thought of as positive for teens, because it allows a student to have a clear mental mindset, strong encouragement to work hard in school, and become a leader in an environment.

The everyday acts of bullying in schools is often the result of peer pressure. Peer pressure is exerted when an individual feels they must join in the behaviors of a particular social group in order to fit in. The most common types of bullying in middle and high schools include the sending of meanly worded notes and name calling. On the more extreme side of the spectrum people might casually ruin another person's relationship with gossip, lies and rumors. Many people give into peer pressure in order to be liked or to fit in. Even the sweetest and kindest kids will give into peer pressure as a form of self preservation. Those people who are able to muster the courage to go against the grain and not give in, will most certainly be happier for it in the long run. Instead of complying and buckling under peer pressure, they are free to be

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)

As a child you are always told to not give into peer pressure via programs such as DARE or DFYIT that instruct us to not only stand up to peer pressure, but they also tell us to not shun or bully others. This is a problem for the human brain because as

As a teenager, I have experienced this bullying behavior first hand. Some of my peers decided that I am not worth being around and this was impactful in my life. So much so that, I almost wrote this paper on how everyone has to hand over their independence to be accepted. I then realized that my individuality can stay right where it is and the social group I was in, should change. Don’t take me wrong here, everyone needs to conform a small amount to make sure society as a whole stays safe.

Kid’s everyday get bullied, made fun of, and teased. Being bullied is not a good feeling, it takes away your self-esteem and often leads to depression. Sometimes it goes far enough that kids choose take their own life because of the things that are happening at school. Another thing is their body image or reputation, some care to much about how they look and what people think of them. They get into binge eating, weight loss pills, and many other harmful things to their bodies. Finally, there is peer pressure, friends persuade people to do things they normally wouldn’t do. They are easy to be manipulated because of the friendship the two have. Peer pressure can really hurt yourself and others. The result can be drugs, alcohol, or even sexual

Peers get bullied everyday. Being bullied can make teens lose self-confidence. It could lead to depression and it could cause many to kill themselves. The teens being bullied are being abused verbally, physically, and sexually. These teenagers and up feeling helpless and worthless. Thinking that they can't do anything productive all because of their peers bullying them. Hearing things over and over again, you will eventually start to believe what you are being told. All the while these teenagers are receiving negative after negative and they end up believing the bullies and start to see

From early childhood to adulthood, the urge to submit to social pressure is a reality that shapes everyone on a daily basis. The desire to meet societal expectations is a factor that greatly impacts decision making from fashion sense, to choosing friends, and to making the right choices in the work force. Many times, this desire for acceptance repudiates one’s beliefs and innate senses. In “Opinions and Social Pressure” by Solomon Asch, and “Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram, the two psychologists conduct a series of experiments to observe how the influence of social pressure leads to conformity and obedience to authority. Both experiments demonstrate the adverse effects of social pressure, for conformity involves a sacrifice of self-interests, while blind obedience to authority results in the harm of others. According to the results of the experiments, social pressure is a force that can cause people to act outside of their personal convictions and moral conscience.

In your years of education and “raising” children, I am positive that you have come across the “nature vs. nurture” debate and, as you are human, have most certainly faced peer pressure. When the nature vs. nurture debacle is combined with peer pressure, the result is the childhood bully who grows up to become America’s most prolific serial killer; while this may be an extreme case, similar situations arise on a day-to-day basis throughout America. As children, we are taught to not give in to the bully, to have the courage to say no; well, Mr. Trump, what if we teach our children to not pressure their peers? While it may seem impossible to stop bullying all together, every child is one caring adult away from individual and global success. If elementary schools spend more time on socializing our future generations than standardized testing, imagine the benefactors as they grow up--adults will learn how to tolerate each other and, above all, have respect for their differences. Picture the good this could do for our feuding country--to have opposites united and have the authority to be the global leader we claim to be.

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.

We all have been young adolescents before and experienced all the things junior high and high school has to offer. Being a teenager is something everyone has or will experience in our life times. Teenagers go through a crucial time in their lives where they really figure out who they are and how to make more adult decisions. Peer pressure has always been a regular part of teenage life. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry state's “Peers play a large role in the social and emotional development of children and adolescents. Their influence begins at an early age and increases through the teenage years. It is natural, healthy and important for children to have and rely on friends as they grow and

There are various cause and effects of peer pressure. Peer pressure is pressure or influence from a person’s peers. Peers are often described people of the same age group or social group. Peers will feel the need to be in control and will often surround themselves with weak-minded or people with low self-esteem to have the do their bidding. The causes of peer pressure include the need to fit in, low self-esteem, fear of rejection, and at most time the need to feel safety and security from peers. The effects of peer pressure can be negative and also have the worst outcomes.