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Peer pressure. It is the bully of the decade. If you try to stand up to it, it will challenge you. It has no fear. Its weaknesses are extremely difficult to find. Hardly anyone dares to mess with the status quo as the bully dominates its kingdom. It determines what is "in" and what is "out"; who belongs and who doesn't. The last time peer pressure was defeated in a battle was so long ago, that no one can remember. Therefore, no one questions its power and there fully submits to it as it stands, victorious, ruling year after year after year.
We hear about peer pressure everywhere. It is in drugs, in addiction, in cliques, in the attempt of trying to blend in with the crowd. However, these are just the common and most heard of occasions in which peer pressure comes up. This peer pressure we know is not always about trying to fit in with the crowd, but sometimes it can be so subtle that it comes up when we try to live up to our own expectations.
Stress, for instance, is easily caused by peer pressure. Maybe you want to do better in school to feel accepted by teachers and yourself. You can probably be deciding between spending time with your friends, which you value, and dedicating more time to school, if you value education as well. Both of these scenarios would cause stress, but when you trace back to the original problem that causes these results you can find peer pressure.
Now, we know that peer pressure can be anywhere, even in the places we least expect it to be. The question; how do we confront it? Isn't it just easier to let peer pressure control us all and simply live life? Why should we even confront it? We know it is too much work already.
Truth is, if we never confront peer pressure, we will never be conformed to ourselves. We will not like ourselves for who we are. The influence of peer pressure on us will be killing our self-esteem, slowly but painfully with each day to come. It's just not reasonable to let peer pressure take over our lives and for us to do nothing about it. In some cases, it can not only kill us internally but also lead to thoughts of suicide, therefore almost taking our lives entirely.
The way that we should confront peer pressure is first by taking a deep breath. We want to see reality before we begin to think about what we could do. When deciding what to do about peer pressure, not only do we want to think of the short-term results it will cause, but also go beyond that. Our decisions will not only affect the outcomes of tomorrow but it will also affect the month after and maybe even years after that. When one confronts peer pressure, one wants to decide what they want to do about it and then think about how that will affect their life.
For instance, let's say a group of popular-seeming kids at my school invites me to their party, which is on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. at "someone's" house. I don't really know them that well . . . but classmates I know are going. However, my parents have a strict curfew for me. I cannot be outside with friends, but just family members, after 9:30 p.m. I know it will take me about 20 minutes to get there, so if I want to go to the party I will have to sneak out of the house. In this peer pressure situation, I have to decide between my family and a party. If I don't go to the party I will probably feel looked down upon by those kids that invited me. If I do go, I will probably be able to join that clique that practically everyone at school wants to join. If I go, though, I might also sneak out some other time and disobey my parents again in the future. Also, a police car might catch me since the curfew in my city for teens under 18 is 10:00 p.m. and my parents might find out what I was up to that very same Saturday. What do I want to choose? Is it really worth it giving up my parents' trust in me for a party and attention? What is this attention even going to give in return? I decide not to go; peer pressure should not be the reason to bring me so low.
How to confront peer pressure? Don't let it stare you down. Peer pressure has resulted in internal problems, family problems, and irrational thinking through the lives of teens, and I say this from observation. I have seen friends and classmates in the past that let peer pressure control them when it should really be the other way around. If one never takes control over peer pressure, it will always haunt them and its control over the person will only grow larger every day. Peer pressure can be quite subtle and is very opportunist, but we can stop it short of its plans if we make the best choice for ourselves because, in the end, we will be the ones affected.
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