Peer Pressure

Danielle Welcome
Junior
Martin Luther King, Jr. High School

Peer pressure is a term describing the pressure exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change their attitude, behavior and/ or morals. Peers really influence your life whether you know it or not. Just from spending time with someone you learn from them and they learn from you. It’s natural to learn listen and learn from people in your age group. Kids give in to pressure because they want to fit in, to be liked, or because they worry other kids might make fun of them if they don’t go along with a group. Other kids go along with it because they are curious and they want to try what others are doing. Peer pressure can be good or bad and it’s important to pay attention so you can tell the difference.
Positive peer pressure is when you are pressured by people your age to change yourself or what you do for the better. For instance, if you hang around people that are good students that act mature and that plan to go to college you will notice that the more you hang around them the more like them you will become. This type of peer pressure is good because it changes you for the better. It helps you achieve more in life and just to be a better person. So if you are going to be affected by peer pressure make sure it’s positive and only good things will follow.
Negative peer pressure is when you are pressured by people your age to change yourself or what you do for the worse. For instance, if you hang around people that gamble, skip school, and do drugs you will start doing that too. Doing things like that is stupid, especially if you’re just doing it to fit in. I’d rather be an outcast than do things that I know I shouldn’t do. Don’t follow what others try to make you do; it’s not worth losing yourself over. Follow your own morals, your own beliefs, do what you know is right.
Stay true to yourself.