Peer Pressure

Peers play a large role in the social and emotional development of children and
adolescents. Their influence begins at an early age and increases through the
teenage years. It is natural, healthy and important for children to have and rely
on friends as they grow and mature.
Peers can be positive and supportive. They can help each other develop new skills,
or stimulate interest in books, music or extracurricular activities.
What is peer pressure? Peer pressure is when someone or a group of people
influences or encourages others to do things they typically wouldn’t do or tries to
change people’s attitude, values or behavior towards something. How many times have
we heard the word “peer pressure” and think or assumed it would be about something
negative or in terms of being “bad”? I had a class assignment where all the
students were asked to come up with topics on peer pressure. I was surprised to
see that all but one had chosen topics on alcohol, sex, drugs, and smoking which
are all examples of negative thoughts directed at peer pressure. There is, however,
another side of peer pressure my classmates didn’t think about and we might not
hear of it
Peer pressure can also lead us to learn new and exciting things we have never done
before or had the courage to do. By learning new things, this isn’t “bad” peer
pressure but a positive experience or influence in our life.
Peer pressure is the influence that one person or group has on another. Peer
pressure is a devastating force that affects the lives of millions across the
world. Most often, peer pressure receives a reputation for being demeaning, harsh,
brutal, and generally negative. However, peer pressure can inspire the affected
party to rise above the cruelty and positively impact their own lives. Yes, peer
pressure may negatively affect someone’s life, but it may also change their life in
a positive manner. Generally, peer pressure receives a negative perception from all
people, especially teenagers. As a person ages, they begin to care less and less of
their image, but in a person’s early years of middle and high school is when the
most effort is put into their public portrayal. Negative peer pressure can be very
demeaning, and ruin a person’s self-esteem.
=Imitation plays a large role in children's lives; in order to pick up skills and
techniques that they use in their own life, children are always searching for
behaviors and attitudes around them that they can co-opt. In other words, children
get influenced by people that are important in their lives such as friends, parents
and even YouTubers, celebrities, singers, dancers, etc. Children are aware of their
position in the social hierarchy from a young age: their instinct is to defer to
adults' judgements and majority opinions
Adolescence is the time when a person is most susceptible to peer pressure because
peers become an important influence on behavior during adolescence, and peer
pressure has been called a hallmark of adolescent experience.[6][7] Children
entering this period in life become aware for the first time of the other people
around them and realize the importance of perception in their interactions. Peer
conformity in young people is most pronounced with respect to style, taste,
appearance, ideology, and values.[8] Peer pressure is commonly associated with
episodes of adolescent risk taking because these activities commonly occur in the
company of peers.[7] Affiliation with friends who engage in risk behaviors has been
shown to be a strong predictor of an adolescent's own behavior.[9] Peer pressure
can also have positive effects when youth are pressured by their peers toward
positive behavior, such as volunteering for charity [10] or excelling in academics.
[11] The importance of peers declines upon entering adulthood.[12]
Social media provides a massive new digital arena for peer pressure and influence.
Research suggests there are a variety of benefits from social media use, such as
increased socialization, exposure to ideas, and greater self-confidence
While most research suggests that family is the most influential in personality
development (Hutteman et al. 2014), the role of peers can be highly influential,
particularly in childhood and adolescence.

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Peers play a large role in the social and emotional development of children and

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