Positive Peer Pressure example essay topic

Becoming a member of a peer group is one of the immediate effects of transition to school. Peer groups influence adolescent society and identity by allowing young people to explore individual interests and uncertainties while retaining a sense of belonging and rank within a group of friends. There may be costs associated with becoming a member of a group of people, which include substance abuse, risk-taking behavior and delinquency, and sexual behavior. For many young persons, substance use, risk-taking behavior, and sexual activity may represent efforts to conform to the norms of the group and to demonstrate commitment and loyalty to other group members. Peer pressure is a process of empowerment. It can be defined as pressure from peers to do something or to keep from doing something else no matter if you personally want to or not.

The central developmental issue associated with transition to school is that individuals are motivated to act and think in certain ways because they have been urged, encouraged, or pressured by a peer to do so. There may be positive and negative effects to peer pressure. If good grades are an influence to you and your friends that is positive peer pressure. On the other hand if the group thinks that it is cool to steal and you steal to fit into the group that is negative peer pressure. Growing up involves many changes. Trying to figure out who you are and where you belong may cause an enormous amount of stress.

This is the time where you are making your own decisions and taking control. At times it may be difficult to try and figure out what choices to make. When that point comes you usually look to your friends to help you make those decisions. Your friends share similar views of what is acceptable and what is not. There may be certain things you feel you have to do in order to fit in to a group. You may feel you have to listen to certain music, dress a certain way, or even where certain colors.

Different groups have different preferences. A prime example is the influence of smoking. Maybe friends in your group smoke and you are the only one who is not and the pressure of seeing yourself different from your friends and wanting to fit in at that point in time influences you to smoke. If you feel comfortable with your friends and what they do, following the rules of the group will be natural to you.

But following the rules of a group does not mean it is right for you. When you conform to a group you are allowing them to make decisions for you and you give up control of yourself. Positive peer pressure is an encouragement by your peers to do something good. It may consist of joining an athletic team, helping out someone, influence of better grades, convincing someone to stop smoking, drinking, or doing drugs. Students who influence other students bring out positive peer pressure. This may work better than parental involvement because students listen to what their friends say.

Peer pressure can work both ways but the trick is to find out which pressures are healthy. Your peers influence your values. As you grow older you try to discover values and opinions that that are meaningful to you. For instance if your friends think good grades are important they may reinforce the idea for you, but if they think that studying is not necessary you might let your grades drop in order to fit in with them. Another example is community service. If you never considered volunteering before and your friends think it is a good thing to do you might feel inclined to participate.

In this sense your peers are influencing your values in a positive way. It is important to recognize when pressure from your friends becomes negative. At that point you must decide what values are important regardless of what your friends think. Your peers become very important when it comes to shaping the adolescent life.

It is normal to be influenced by your social groups but it is also important to become strong enough to resist negative peer pressure; temptations of your peers show a lack of respect for yourself.