Petrifying Peer Pressure: the social phenomenon
Intervening Insolence • Sophomore Skyelar Shepeard has a conversation with friends. We encourage everyone to be strong in who they are. Be friends, but be you. Photo by Evelyn Martinez.
Peer pressure can lead to people feeling like they’re obligated to do things they don’t want to. It can feel terrible to be peer pressured by your friends, especially when you know it’s a wrong choice. In many situations, peer pressure can be both positive and negative, but overall it has a negative force.
Peer pressure can be really bad for people because it can lead to where someone can lose his or her lifestyle and entirely adopt their peers’ ways of living.
“I had friends who peer pressured me into getting into problems. I know they weren’t
the best people, but I decided to keep being friends with them for a while until I finally let them go,” sophomore Donia Warren said.
In the article “The Positive and Negative Side of Peer Pressure You Need to Know” by SecureTeen the author suggests that when pressured, you can no longer follow your own tastes and you start to like what your peers like and do what they do. Some examples of this are when you’re around people who drink, smoke, or consume
any type of substance that’s not healthy. It can cause a person to get addicted to these things and start
consume them on a regular basis. “I’ve seen multiple people get
influenced into doing things they don’t want to just by being around their friends,” sophomore Shaun Casayuran said.
Another reason peer pressure is bad is because it can impact
a person’s mental and physical health. It could also make them emotionally unstable and have
a huge downfall. In the article, “Types of Peer Pressure” by Aspenridge Recovery the author says that peer pressure can cause turmoil in personal relationships and ruin self-confidence as well.
It can also ruin someone’s relationships if they get influenced by their peers to do something that’s very wrong.
“The friends I used to have wanted me to get into a different relationship after just breaking up with my ex; they knew I didn’t
want to, but they continued to try to talk me into it,” Donia said.
Those who disagree with this say that peer pressure has a positive force. Seeing other people be nice can inspire them to be a better person. It can deter them from drug consumption and promote mental wellness.
“Peer pressure can sometimes be really good in my opinion, it can push you to be a better person and try harder in many situations,” sophomore Ellie Mckinney said.
Most of the time, peer pressure has a negative force. It can make a person lose his or her own lifestyle and start doing the wrong things their peers’ are doing, like drugs.
It can also have a very big impact on a person’s mental and physical health.
Don’t let yourself get pressured into doing something you know is wrong.