Peer Pressure. Our Teachers Think About It,

Peer pressure. Our teachers think about it, our parents worry about it, and we have to deal with it every day. In fact, the words "peer pressure" are thrown about as if it is always a bad thing. I believe, however, that there is a good side as well as a bad side to it.

We all know what peer pressure is. It is the influence your friends have over you that changes the choices you make. A good example of negative peer pressure is drinking. Many teens drink. Our teachers know it, our parents know it, and we see it first-hand. If peer pressure results in someone becoming seriously impaired, especially if that person then feels he or she has to drive somewhere, then obviously the peer pressure in this case was negative. A classic example of this would be sorority and fraternity hazing. Every year we hear in the news about some college student who died of acute alcohol poisoning after being pressured by the other members in the fraternity he recently pledged to join. However, it doesn't take that much pressure to coax most teens into drinking. If their friends drink, they will encourage him or her to participate.

But does this place all the responsibility on peer pressure? Probably not. Teens want to explore new things, including, unfortunately, alcohol. It could be argued that teens are prone to drink because they are prone to experiment. Teens are trapped between childhood and adulthood. It is a time for us to learn to make our own decisions, and we will be influenced by our friends. But that is just in the nature of human beings. If we all restricted our activities to things our friends don't participate in, far fewer adults would golf. Adult golfers often get interested in taking up the sport because they have friends who golf. Common activities help form and cement social bonds, and human beings are social animals.

Of course, sometimes teens will make unfortunate choices, such as drinking too much. They can feel the pressure to join in, and the consequences can be serious. But the nature of adolescence as a time to explore and try new things is, I think at least partly the result of being a teenager.

Cigarette smoking is another experience where teens may feel peer pressure. Those who smoke may look "cool," and teens who have friends who smoke are more likely to smoke themselves. But once again, the very nature of being a teenager may have as much influence as peer pressure. Teens try new things.

Peer pressure, however, can also be a positive force. If a teen's friends work hard in school, then school success becomes a positive part of that group of friends. Each teenager in such a circle might well work harder on schoolwork because that is the standard for his or her friends.

Another activity that might be influenced by peer pressure is sports activities. High school students who participate in sports are admired by their classmates for it. This admiration is certainly a form of peer pressure.

There's no doubt about it, however. Peer pressure can lead to bad choices. If four students in a group of five friends have agreed to cut third hour, the four who have made that choice may well pressure the fifth to join them. The lure of skipping school may be so attractive that the fifth person joins in. Would he or she have done it without the pressure of the rest of the group? Probably not, and this hints at the real problem with peer pressure: all teens want to have friends and want to be accepted. They want to be certain that their friends like them. This can lead to choices that are a lot worse than skipping one class. A family relative tells the story of the secret girls' club at her high school. Most of the very popular girls were in it, and those who wanted to be in that group had to shoplift $50 worth of clothing, which was more like $200 in value today. Some of the girls who joined this club included the class president and several members of the honor society.