What is Peer Pressure?

Peer Pressure is when one person or more feel forced to do something by a friend or a peer. Peer pressure can be positive or negative but most of the time its negative. An example could be if one kid smokes but their friend isnt into smoking but the pressure their friend into doing it anyways. Peer pressure can lead to making numerous bad decisions and even getting in a bad situation. Depending on others are getting people to do it can ruin their lives and what they had going good for themselves. Peer pressure can make a person depressed just by the way they are being treated. Most teens or anyone feel like they are pressured to do something that they really dont want to do but they only want to fit in with the people who they think are cool, or popular, or have a lot of friends. Sometimes people dont know how to make friends so they see what a person does or what they like to do and try and imitate them.

Negative peer pressure usually leads to kids doing drugs or stealing or anything that could get them in trouble. Or it may distract them from their school work and cause them to fail. Sometime their attitude changes at home and causes them to act our or be disrespectful to their parents. Most parents have rules in their house where they dont want their child doing anything bad or having bad habits, but once one child is influenced by another child or someone older than them they tend not to care or not listen to what their parents are saying to them. It cause them to want to sneak out, have parties, drink, smoke or do anything that can harm them. Once you start acting or living like someone you want to be you lose your own lifestyle so its like your not yourself anymore. It is like being told that you have to do what someone says or your not cool or you wont have friends, so when kids hear that they try their best to be like everyone but they never even notice how much it is changing them. It can draw them away from their friends and familyr's.

Most people ask why do teens accept peer pressure just to fit in. But thatr's all they just want to fit in but if they are being forced then they dont know how to fit in so they are just doing anything to be cool or to get more friends. Like most movies you see now about mean girls the mean girls are usually the ones to pressure other like how they have a small group of friends and the girls just do whatever the leader says like they are made to be servants to the person who is controlling them.

Most kids dont know how to say no to peer pressure cause they feel like people are going to start picking on them or not want to be their friend. So most time they dont stop even if they want to they continue to do it so that they have friends and be popular and cool. But most of the popular kids no one even likes because they are mean to others and trying to get them to be like them. Bullying is most common with peer pressure so if one person is with a group of friends and they are all drinking and they offer the kid a drink and they say no they are usually labeled a whimp or a scardy cat so kids are afraid of what others might say them if they say no. Other times if a kid tries to tell a teacher or administrator they are called a snitch for telling on someone then almost everyone around them starts calling them snitch to but only because they were trying to protect there selves.

Most parents do teach there kids not to give into peer pressure, but once one kid starts to pick on them it makes them feel as if they need to change so they dont get pick on by that kid. Peer pressure can be bad or good but you never want it to be bad.

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