Peer Pressure

Presssure:

Defining Peer Pressure
decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder. People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure. It’s something everyone has to deal with – even adults. Let’s talk about how to handle it.

Peers influence your life, even if you don’t realize it, just by spending time with you. You learn from them, and they learn from you. It’s only human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group.

Peers can have a positive influence on each other.
Examples of how peers positively influence each other:
Talking or teaching about a cool trick on effective blogging.
Teaching a cool trick say computer short cuts that make your daily work easier.
You might admire a colleagues good PR skills and try to be more like him.
Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book, and now everyone’s reading it. These are examples of how peers positively influence each other every day.

Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways.
For example, a few peers can back bite about another colleague so you can get him / her into trouble.
your work friend might try to convince you to be mean to another colleagues and do their best to bring her down, show her in bad light to the management. Never let her function normally by secluding him, passing mean remarks, cutting her off from group invites.

Why Do People give in to Peer Pressure?
Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked,
to fit in,
or because they worry that they would be ridiculed if they don’t go along with the group.
Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that “everyone’s doing it” may influence some to leave their better judgment, or their common sense, behind.

How to Walk Away From Peer Pressure
It is tough to be the only one who says “no” to peer pressure, but you can do it. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do. Inner strength and self-confidence can help you stand firm, walk away, and resist doing something when you know better.

It can really help to have at least one other peer, who is willing to say “no,” too. This takes a lot of the power out of peer pressure and makes it much easier to resist. It’s great to have friends with values similar to yours who will back you up when you don’t want to do something.

There is a popular adage “choose your friends wisely.” Peer pressure is a big reason why they say this. If you choose friends who doesnt use politics, back stab, has unhealthy habits, or lies, then you probably won’t do these things either, even if others do. Try to help a friend who’s having trouble resisting peer pressure. It can be powerful for one kid to join another by simply saying, “I’m with you – let’s go.”

Even if you’re faced with peer pressure while you’re alone, there are still things you can do. You can simply stay away from peers who pressure you to do stuff you know is wrong. You can tell them “no” and walk away. Better yet, find other colleagues to pal around with.

If you continue to face peer pressure and you’re finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you trust. Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two. Talking to a mentor, or counselor can help you feel much better and prepare you for the next time you face peer pressure.

Learn to Deal With Pressure
Dealing with pressures and stress can be hard sometimes. The pressure to make friends, earn good PMM scores, deal with crammed schedules, establish and maintain relationships, and navigate an occasionally difficult home life can feel overwhelming at times. Dealing with all of this can mess with your self-esteem, outlook on life, mood, and health. The next thing you know, you’re feeling stressed, or worse.

What is Stress?
When you are stressed, your body reacts to enhance your senses and ability to meet a challenge like taking a test, building the courage to ask someone out on a date, scoring a goal, or swerving to avoid a car crash. Your body releases hormones called adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream, which increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, boosts energy supplies by increasing glucose (blood sugar) in the bloodstream, and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.1 All of these things happen to prepare you to handle anything that comes your way, whether it’s running away from a bad mouthing colleague or staying up late to finish a paper.
Mild stress may cause changes in our brains and bodies that are useful, but if stress is constant or prolonged, the changes that it produces can be harmful.
Some people think they can deal with stress by taking drugs. They think if they are unhappy, drugs will make them feel better. And some people say they think that taking drugs might help them to cope with stress in their lives. But drugs don’t fix the problems that are causing the stress in the first place, and they don’t stop the feelings themselves. Drug use can actually worsen the situation and lead to even more stress, anxiety, or even depression.
It is important to remember that everyone feels stressed sometimes and everyone goes through hard times. It might not seem like it now, but most things get better with time, especially if you confront the problems and work through them. Dealing with your problems directly might be difficult at first, but it will make you happier in the long run. For example, you may have to lessen your work load or talk with a mentor, or other professional about something that is bothering you. But if you find your feelings do not improve, you could also be suffering from depression, which can be caused by unbalanced chemicals in the brain – and is not your fault.