Peer Pressure

When peer pressure comes knocking what do you do or say to avoid conflict with peers?

What is Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is the influence caused by people within the same social group. Peer pressure can be seen in many ways; bullying, drugs and alcohol, cheating, skipping class, and even sending inappropriate pictures can all be due to peer pressure. Though peer pressure usually has a negative connotation, peer pressure can also be a positive thing. For example, your friends may pressure you into doing something like a school activity, sport, or extracurricular that can bring you many positive things.

Examples

When peer pressure comes knocking, it’s a good idea to have a few responses ready to help you escape from that situation.

Here are a few examples:

1. You have a math test in the seventh period. Your friend, who has the same test in the third period, steals a copy and offers it to you. What do you do?

• Though it may sound tempting, you know it is not a good idea. Instead, you should mention that you are confident going into the test and you don’t want to get in trouble for cheating.

1. Your friend wants you to pretend you or her mom and call and sick for her so she can cut school. What should you say?

• In cases like this, friends can be very persuasive, and it can be tough to say no because you may be faced with ridicule if you don’t. To avoid this, you should say I don’t feel comfortable doing that.

1. You’ve had a bad day, and your friend says he is just the thing to help you feel better: a joint. What do you do?

• Finding the right thing to say in situations can be extremely hard. But you can avoid them by making many excuses like, “ no thanks I have soccer tonight and don’t think that would be a good idea.”
  

Not falling into peer pressure can be difficult at times when your friends can be highly persuasive. But the most powerful words of advice that anyone can give is to stick with your morals and what you believe is right. If you know that the consequences may be worse than your current circumstance, then it is most likely not worth it

Friendships are less critical than one’s health. When looking at the leading cause of people falling for peer pressure is because of the need for acceptance from friends. No friendship is worth risking your health, and most likely, if your friends are taking part in peer pressure, they aren’t your real friend

What should I do?

For all Ages:

If you feel that you are being peer pressured, assess the situation. Who is doing the pressuring, what kind of words are they using, what effects do those words have on others, and are they doing the pressuring positively or negatively? If, after assessing your situation, you were found to be The victim of negative peer pressure, find your “escape.”Whether that be blaming it on your parents, academics, your athletics, there are many different ways you can make excuses to get out of those sticky situations instead of partaking in those activities.

To be prepared if you were to be put in a peer pressure situation, you can come up with many different excuses on why you shouldn’t do those specific things. There’s always an out, even if it isn’t the cool way.