Many young people have lost their lives, or fallen into an addiction or even going through some mental health issues because of peer pressure. Most young persons between the ages of 16 and 23 are passing through a lot peer pressure and some have become depressed because of the pressure to do what other young people are doing mostly negative in nature. The pressure to confirm can be hard and impossible to resist.
What is peer pressure? Peer pressure is influence on your behavior from a group that you interact with socially or professionally. It can be good or bad depending on what action is taken, what consequences it brings and whether or not you want to do it. Peer pressure can be negative or positive.
Types of Peer Pressure;
- Spoken Peer Pressure
This type of peer pressure involves one individual or a group asking another individual to take part in some type of behavior. In a group setting, the pressure felt is much stronger as there is power in numbers.
- Unspoken Peer Pressure
This type of peer pressure involves an individual being exposed to certain behaviors, trends or choices of others and feeling a pressure to conform.
- Direct Peer Pressure
This type of peer pressure can be spoken or unspoken. Direct peer pressure is normally behavior-centred. Example of this type of Peer Pressure is handing a can of beer to friend, the friend is put in a spot of having to make a decision.
4 Indirect Peer Pressure
Similar to unspoken peer pressure, indirect peer pressure is subtle but can still put a strong influence on an impressionable young person. When a teen overhears a friend gossiping about another person and then reacts to the gossip, that is indirect peer pressure.
5 Negative Peer Pressure
Asking a young teenager to engage in behavior that is against their moral code or family values is a type of negative peer pressure. Teens see the actions of other teens with stronger personalities and are put in a position of following the leader or walking away. It’s not uncommon for teens with strong morals to find themselves engaging in behavior that goes against their beliefs, simply because they want acceptance.
6 Positive Peer Pressure
Positive peer pressure is when someone's peers encourage them to do something positive or push them to grow in a beneficial way.
Effects of Peer Pressure
1. Distractions from academics:
Peer pressure can sometimes cause us to move our focus from our academics because we're engaged in things we wouldn't normally do or distracted by thoughts about peer pressure.
2. Pressure to engage in risky
behavior:
Friends may pressure each other to do things like drink alcohol, try drugs, engage in sexual activity.
3. Problems with self-esteem and self-confidence:
Constantly feeling pressure to do things that go against your values and beliefs can make you feel bad about yourself.
4. Sudden changes in behavior:
Trying to conform to a peer pressure might mean that you start acting and looking like someone other than yourself.
5. Unhappiness with appearance:
If peers are fixating on appearance, you may feel inadequate and want to change how you look in order to fit in.
6. Anxiety and depression:
Being around people who pressure us to do things we aren't comfortable with can make us feel anxiety and depressed.
7. Distance from family and friends:
Negative peer pressure tends to make us feel bad about ourselves, and this can cause us to withdraw from our family and people we care about.
In other to overcome this, there's need for parents to be watchful 🙄🙄 look out to your children's friends, know them, be friends with them also. By so doing you'll be able to detect the bad once.