How to stand up to negative peer pressure Extern: Transforming Lives Transforming Society

Social pressure can affect a wide range of thoughts, actions and behaviors, from academic performance to substance use to mental health. Rather than worrying about the effects of their children’s friendships, parents would do well to focus on creating a positive, supportive home environment. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ That way, even if your child is peer pressured to do something they don’t want to do, they’ll feel comfortable coming to you to talk about it first. Role playing can feel like too much pressure to some young people. Consider as an alternative using an example from TV or a movie.

While it can be a common part of your teen years, it’s still possible to make healthy decisions. If you know what can make you uncomfortable, avoiding going to places where people may push you to do certain things is better. For example, if you don’t like alcoholic beverages, don’t go to bars where people may invite you to drink. Also, if others ask you to go to places for drinking, you can politely dismiss their request and say you don’t like alcoholic drinks. There may also be instances where certain groups of people want to hang out. You can avoid getting peer-pressured if you don’t go to such places in the first place, so people won’t spot you, increasing the chance of them interacting and inviting you.

Why Do Some Kids Give in to Peer Pressure?

It should be a conversation in which you don’t pass judgment. If possible, share a situation from when you were younger in which you made a mistake and explain what you learned from it. That even-handedness will encourage them towards making positive choices if faced with a similar peer situation in the future. Your flexibility in these areas will also allow you to take firmer stances in areas that would challenge their safety or morality. It’s important to allow teens to make day-to-day decisions for themselves. If parents are always deciding things for them, they send the message that their teens are incapable.

Remember that Kelly is afraid of ridicule and losing her friends if she doesn’t skip school. This type of pressure makes her feel guilty about her decision and can lead to confrontation with her peers. Parents can so easily place their own expectations upon a teen who is in the process of discovering what they want to do with their life. Parents might expect their child to go to law school when in fact he or she might want to become an artist. Furthermore, it might be more meaningful for an adolescent to travel after high school rather than head straight to college. To facilitate a sense of meaning in teens, parents can focus on teaching and loving their child rather than choosing for them.

Dealing With The Peer Pressure

One-time use of such drugs may cascade into addiction more quickly. This is applicable, especially when learning how to deal with peer pressure. Dangerous substances can wreak havoc on mental health and wellness.

Negative peer pressure is the influence a person faces to do something they wouldn’t normally do or don’t want to do as a way of fitting in with a social group. People often face negative peer pressure to drink alcohol, do drugs, or have direct peer pressure sex. In reality, peer pressure can be either a positive or negative influence that one peer, or group of peers, has on another person. The following six terms are often used to describe the types of peer pressure a person may experience.

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Peer pressure becomes harmful when it starts to affect our actions and behavior, which leads us to commit acts that are out of character and may have negative consequences. For example, we may feel pressured by our peers to join them and do something against our beliefs and interests. As a result, people may be forced to do what others want them to do for fear of getting ejected from a social group or losing friends.

The methods for this research involved a combination of longitudinal studies, quantitative studies, qualitative studies, systematic reviews, and cross-sectional studies. Profound data from articles gathered through NUSS, ECBO host, and various other databases were utilized. Among numerous articles, 25 were chosen and consistently exhibited underage drinking is a true public health concern.

You can also positively peer pressure others by the way you respond to situations. For instance, if your friend is body-shaming another person, you can say, “Actually, it can be really harmful to criticize people’s bodies like that.” Finally, peer pressure can be described as either positive or negative. Positive peer pressure is when a person is influenced by others to engage in a beneficial or productive behavior. If their temporary lapse in judgment doesn’t cross into territory in which safety or morality are at risk, try to stay calm. Have a reasonable discussion after a bit of time has passed.