Idea Of Peer Pressures Effects On Kids example essay topic

Peer Pressure Effects On Learning Allan failed his Advanced Algebra test and his parents are going to kill him. But this is not his fault, he was to busy with intramural basketball and his job at Fromm International. With these extra activities he has had no time to study for his math test or do most of the homework. He also has a group of friends who are more concerned with drinking and parting.

He try's to impress his friend by not studying and partying. The main reason why kids and him are not doing so well in school these days is because of their peers. Today's students listen more to their friends rather than their parents or teachers. Beyond the Classroom and two other sources have backed up the idea of peer pressures effects on kids failing.

The book Beyond the Classroom, written by Laurence Steinberg, is about why school reform has failed and what parents need to do. This book explains that schools these days are not as educational as schools back in the day. One of the chapters in this book was titled "The Power of Peers". In this section they talked about how teens are effected by other teens. One main reason is teens are not studying and learning as well because of their peers. Kids need groups or "cliques" to fell important.

These groups of peers influence one another. If one kid in the group tells another kid not to do their homework because it will make them look like a geek or a nerd, they will follow the idea because they want to be cool. Also kids involved in sports or extra activities do not do as well as other students, because of the less time to study. Also kids with after school jobs are more likely to fail courses or even classes. "These kids are not failing school because they don't try hard or because they don't study, it's because they are to involved in other activities", says Laurence Steinberg. The second source was an article in Family Life.

The article "Adolescence & Peer Pressure" was written by Herbert G. Lindgren. This article agreed with Beyond the Classroom and also states some of the same reasons. They said that "peers these days encourage poor school performance, and peers look down on kids who succeed in school". The one scary thing is that parents don't realize that their kids are doing poorly in till the last minute. If parents even tried to help their kids it wouldn't be an easy task, because kids listen to their friends more than their parents. The one way parents could help teens not listen to there peers is by getting involved their kids academics.

Parents need to place restrictions on extra activities and work. If they place restrictions the kids will have time to study for school. The third source was posted in the Harvard Educational Letter. The article was "Why Current Assessments Don't Measure Up" and was written by Maria R. Levenson. This article was about how kids get distracted with all the pressure form learning. They said, "Kids are distracted form learning and are more concerned with their peers".

Also in today's society people are more concerned with their IQ's and their scores on standardize tests. In today's schools kids are tested with standardized test. These test put so much pressure on kids to do well they crack under the pressure and fail. Also students don't learn as well because of other students' distractions. All these sources have agreed that peer pressure affects kids learning.

So Allan's mom can't just blame Allan for not studying or trying. This is somewhat her fault. She did not put restrictions on Allen's after school activities and is not involved in Allan's academics. If Allan was not involved with intramural basketball and an after school job, he might have had time to study for his math test. So next time Allan should be get an A on his math test.