Is peer pressure always a bad thing? Maybe not. Sometimes, whatever you’re being pressured into doing can be harmless, while the best kind can even be beneficial. In a perfect world, all peer pressure should be positive. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case and most of us might be familiar with the more negative side of the term.
Some examples of this include being pressured into maybe just one more drink at a party, shoplifting to fit in with, and please a group of “cool kids”, or skipping class to do something “more fun” than going to class. These ideas all sound great and brilliant at that moment, but they really aren’t. The negative kind of peer pressure can actually lead to all sorts of consequences. What can you do to avoid negative peer pressure?
As a person and as someone who has and still goes through instances of peer pressure, one of the best ways to avoid it is to visualise the consequences or the worst probable outcomes. In the heat of the moment, it may not be easy, but taking a second to step back to think can make all the difference. An example of where this could have been useful is when I was in high school, when my friends were able to find a way to skip class with a “sure fire way not to get caught”, as they said.
They dragged me into it by remarking that I was not one of them if I didn’t follow along and that I would be missing out on the fun stuff I could do with them before school was dismissed for the day. I gave in and although I had my fun, we were eventually caught. Had I thought about the earful I would get from my parents and teachers, the blip on my report card, as well as punishments such as one week of after-school classroom cleaning duties, I would have been more adamant about doing what was right.
Another thing that one can do is to not get into situations where instances of negative peer pressure are most likely to come up. It’s not always going to be possible, but there would be no peer pressure if there isn’t something to cause it in the first place. For example, if the drinking is getting out of hand at a party, yet people are still egging each other on while putting safety at risk, perhaps it’s time to leave before they get to you. The extreme alternative to that is to simply not show up to places where trouble could brew, at least when you have a feeling about it beforehand.
The last thing one can do is say one of the shortest, yet most powerful words: No. But what about fitting in, pleasing the “in” crowd and the promises of friendship? Again, unless it is the positive kind of peer pressure such as that that leads to the betterment of oneself and the pursuit of positive future endeavours, nothing else matters or is not even worth the time, let alone the consequences.
True friends and those with the best intentions are those who can look out for you, your interests and well-being, not those who peer-pressure you with an ultimatum for a cookie-cutter method for trouble just to fit in. Exceptions aside, you shouldn’t give into peer pressure just because it will make those around you happier, or because you think they’ll accept you.
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