Good Peer Pressure And Bad Peer Pressure example essay topic

As you grow older, you " ll be faced with some challenging decisions. Some don't have a clear right or wrong answer. Other decisions involve serious moral questions. Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder.

People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it's called peer pressure. It's something everyone has to deal with, even adults. Maybe you want to do it, and you just don't have the courage to do it and your friends talk you into it. Peer Pressure can be broken down into two areas, good peer pressure and bad peer pressure. When we think of peer pressure we always think of it in terms of bad.

We think of peer pressure in terms of pressuring others into, smoking, do illegal drugs, drink alcohol, have promiscuous sex, engage in criminal and quasi-criminal, behavior, do violence, join gangs, and so on. We rarely think of the many good ways that peer pressure can influence us and neither do the parents of teens. It is tough to be the only one who says no to peer pressure, but you can do it. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do. Inner strength and self-confidence can help you stand firm, walk away, and resist doing something when you know better. Peers influence your life, even if you don't realize it, just by spending time with you.

You learn from them, and they learn from you. It's only human nature to listen to, and learn from other people in your age group. Peers can have a positive influence on each other. Sometimes peers also influence each other in negative ways.

Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in, or because they worry that other kids may make fun of them if they don't go along with the group. Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that everyone's doing it may influence some kids to leave their better judgment, or their common sense, behind. It can really help to have at least one other peer, or friend, who is willing to say no, too. This takes a lot of the power out of peer pressure and makes it much easier to resist. It's great to have friends with values similar to yours who will back you up when you don't want to do something.

It is very important to proper social development that we do learn to follow the crowd. This is how we learn acceptable social customs that is, how we are expected to act in the world in order to be good people. The trick is learning to tell the difference between following the crowd and blindly following the crowd. It takes a person of great character and self confidence to work peer pressure the right way. As long as following the crowd doesn't cause you to act without consideration, following is not always a bad thing to do. You can compare peer pressure to a forest fire.

If just one tree is burning it is easy to put out, the more trees it spreads to it gets harder and harder to put out. Eventually it will be nearly impossible to put out. The one tree can be compared to one kid pressuring you into doing something. Just as easy it was to put out that one burning tree it will be that easy to go against peer pressure. The burning trees can be compared to a bunch of kids being pressured into something.

Just like it was nearly impossible to put out that many trees it would be that impossible to say no to that many kids. So, in conclusion there are two main groups that peer pressure can be divided into, good and bad. If it is good you are in a crowd. On the other hand if it is bad you are in a mob. I have learned so much while doing this whole project on peer pressure. I know that I have to be careful about what I do say, and act like around any of my peers.

I can still act like I do with them but it would be a lot better if I was more cautious around any of my peers. Peers being especially being my friends and more importantly the ones I hang out with the most. I realize I haven't been doing bad things because of my friends but I don't want to and I have to stay away from any of them when they are doing something bad. I also have to say no to anything I no is bad. I have to use my conscience to get me out of any kind of peer pressure.