Peer Pressure and its Effect on Teenagers

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At some stage or point of time, we as human beings face or experience peer pressure. Peer pressure is defined as a certain obligations, that one feels, one has to conform to in order to be accepted and welcomed into ones group or society.

The need or the necessity to belong has always been there since ages and hence people tend to experience peer pressure at least, once. This phenomenon is greatly seen in the teenagers especially in their decision making process during the early crucial stages of life which may greatly change their lives forever, for good or for worse.

 Teens, with school and other works, spend a lot of time out of home. Friends play a major role in their lives. They are greatly influenced by the groups they hang out with, be it about their choice of clothes, hairstyles, choice of games etc. When it is happens in a setting where the choice becomes of interest to the individual, it isn’t much of a pressure but when the peer pressure becomes unavoidable and hard to get away from, it becomes a “pressure”.

Types of Peer Pressure

Broadly we can have two types of Peer Pressures namely:

·         Positive peer pressure: Occurs when the individual indulges in positive outcome activities like joining various extracurricular activities, clubs, doing better in studies, exercising, inculcating discipline etc.

·         Negative peer pressure: occurs when an individual indulges in activities which do not help in his/her growth but damages their lives like drugs, shoplifting, stealing, cheating, alcohol and many more such abominable things.

Forms of Peer Pressure

There are different forms of peer pressure as discussed below:

·         Individual peer pressure: This is seen when a particular individual tries too hard to fit in a group or in a society so that he/she is accepted, only because the other person or members in that group has taken up that activity, irrespective of their own personal choices and likes.

·         Direct peer pressure: This type of situation is seen within a group where a certain individual directs a person to do things in a certain way and the individual follows it. Dominating individuals in a group tend to exert their power on the other and leads to the phenomenon of peer pressure, experienced by the others.

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·         Indirect peer pressure: This occurs when the individual is not directly influenced but is indirectly imbibed with a few activities or doings. For example, a group decides to bully a person and even when a certain individual, even though not interested, decides to bully in order to conform to the group.

What needs to be done

It is the responsibility of the parents to take up the issue at hand and talk to the teenagers and help them understand the importance of doing what is right rather than following the crowd. They have to be explained that conforming to the group in a good way always helps , however if it is for a bad cause or resulting in a unwanted situation , then in such a case conforming to the group should not be an obligation.