Effects of peer pressure

For my English Communication II class, we are to write a cause and effect blog on a popular subject. Peer pressure has always been a sensitive subject for me as well as so many others.  We all are affected by peer pressure at some point of our lives. We see it in the news, on social media and from our young adults.

The cause of peer pressure defers, but the reasoning for allowing others to influence you is always the same, acceptance. We all want to feel that we are a part of something, that we are not alone. We allow others actions and words to cloud our judgement.

We allow close friends to influence our choices in music, fashion, our friends and even our boyfriends or girlfriends. Our high consideration of our friends opinions hold value. We do not want to disappoint or be criticized for not following the crowed. Not all peer pressure is negative, but for intent and purposes we will only be discussing most common form, negative peer pressure.

The results of negative peer pressure is heartbreaking. We have read and heard stories of kids committing suicide due to the harassment and not conforming to peer pressure. According to Statistics on Peer Pressure, the Mayo Clinic says that teens with friends who self-injure are more likely to self-injure as well. As teenagers try to find their identity and acceptable roles, they also face pressure to give in to their new sexual desires. A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that:

·         One-third of teenage males feel pressure from their friends to have sex.

·         23 percent of females feel pressure from their friends to have sex.

·         44 percent of teens want more information on how to handle pressure to                       have sex and how to know when they are ready to have sex.

·         46 percent of parents have not discussed with their teens how to handle                       pressure to have sex.

We need to inform our kids at a young age to be strong and to find a way not to allow others to take control of our decisions. To learn more about the statistics on peer pressure, please visit the below link.

http://teens.lovetoknow.com/Statistics_on_Peer_Pressure