Peer pressure and bad habits among friend groups

Friends From the Wrong Crowd

One of the most challenging things among the young people on America is the idea of bad company. This problem is so pronounced and serious taking into account that the people who surround and individual largely dictates the direction of the life that the individual will take and hence shaping their future.

Ryan a 23 years old boy came from a humble Christian family where no one was allowed to smoke. When Ryan joined campus he met Pat and Torrey who were cigarette addicts. They became his close friends and went a head and invited him to hang out with them for a weekend. Pat and Torrey offered Ryan a whiff of cigarette for the first time in his life. Ryan was hesitant and said an emphatic "No" to the request but they kept on insisting on him to smoke. Ultimately he ended up smoking due to peer pressure. Since that time they ensured that he enjoyed with them every time he hangs out with them and eventually he ended up developing unhealthy habits of smoking.

Usage of tobacco can cause cancer, particularly, lung cancer, kidney cancer, cancer of the larynx head and neck, breast cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the pancreas and stomach cancer.

Nicotine is a poisonous alkaloid that is widely used in cigarettes and other tobacco products. It's also used as a drug in nicotine replacement therapy, which helps individuals trying to quit smoking. But overdose, as well as long-term use of nicotine as a drug and smoking cigarette can cause some serious side effects.

Side effects of nicotine

Nicotine increases heart rate and blood rate pressure and narrowing of constriction of the blood vessels

Excessive nicotine intake can cause gastrointestinal problems like nausea, diarrhea, dyspepsia and flatulence.

Excess or over use of nicotine is the leading cause for several types of cancer i.e. oral cancer, cancer of the lungs, esophagus and larynx.

When nicotine directly affects the persons brain and the nervous system it can lead to sleep disturbances or insomnia, irritability, dizziness, headache and abnormal dreams especially incase of long-term intoxication.

Prolonged use of nicotine can also result into coronary artery or cardiovascular diseases and significantly increases the risk for strokes.

Nicotine can also lead to some complications such as insulin resistance, jaw pain, vision problem and decreased appetite.

The other major challenge in having the wrong company is the likelihood of engaging in gang lifestyle and gang related activities such as;

Fights; most people feel energetic when they are with their peers in such a way that when they are alone they have no energy to fight people or even abuse them. Ryan used to be rude when with Pat and Torrey in that he could talk on top of his voice and even went ahead to fight anyone who could wrong either of them but while a long he was so humble in that you could wrong him but he just look at u .

Drugs; peer pressure can lead one into drug abuse. Friends from the wrong company which abuses drugs can influence the innocent one into drug abuse. For example, Ryan met Pat and Torrey who were drug addicts at campus. They influenced him to use drugs in such away that they could threaten him that if he doesn't do as they do they will not be his friends. They made sure that every time they went out he enjoyed their company by taking drugs and he later became a drug addict due to peer pressure since he did not want to loose friends.

Party; Pat, Torrey and Ryan used to go for parties every Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and weekends. Every time they went for parties they used to drink excess alcohol in that they could sometimes sleep there. They used never to attend their classes since they were drunkards and even sometimes they could miss to do exams which made them not to graduate.

Alcoholism can lead to car accidents. Most people when they get drunk they tend to speed such that they don't recognize obey the traffic rules at corners and bumps and even the pedestrian crossing. They also tend to drive at night since they leave parties at night when they are drunk heading to their homes of which some don't reach but rather their cars roll of the roads, some drop in bridges, some fall in trenches hence leading to death or severe injuries.