How to Overcome Pressure among Peer Group

‘’Peer pressure is stress of strain you feel from friends and school mates to act, behave, think and look a certain way. This kind of pressure can cover anything from fashion through sex and dating,’’ (Goldsmith)

Changes are a significant part of our lives. Everyone in this world wants a change in something. A life without a change becomes boring and mainstream which ultimately makes one’s life dull and pathetic. Sometimes the changes we make in our lives makes it more beautiful. The topic I selected to pen down is “THE CHANGE I WANT TO MAKE” and I want to eliminate the vastly growing negative peer pressure in our society.

Peer pressure is a real issue that is affecting many of teenagers. Society is offering a lot of misleading guidelines that are leading the teens in wrong directions .”If the youth of today are more educated, the future of our world will be a lot better off(Dobson).

There are a lot of pressures that our teenagers are facing in today’s world, like smoking, drinking, having involved in sexual activities even when you are not enough grown-up to do so. It can lead one person to bad deeds and thinking therefore it is really important to be aware of this problem and save one from its bad influence .” Sometimes others put the pressure on you to participate in something you might not want to do(Hayes)”.

Teenagers of today are facing a lot of tensions that can have a very strong impact on their decision making. Many times these decisions are negative ones, which may include consumption of drugs, alcohol, sex, violence or just a desire to fit in the society.

Peer pressure has very harmful effects on one's mind. It can cause high depression, high level of stress, inappropriate behaviors etc. It is the influence provided by ones own peer group. This includes influencing other to drink, smoke, lying, etc.

There are several types of peer pressure which includes :
“This includes Insults: making a person feel bad for not doing something, so that eventually they will. Rejection: pressure by threatening to end a relationship or a friendship. Unspoken pressure: simply seeing all your peers doing something or wearing something can be a form of pressure. Lastly, Insults: making a person feel bad for not doing something so that they eventually will. (SafeTeens3)

It is not an issue which can’t be get rid of instead we should know the appropriate tactics to deal with it. I want people to get awareness of this huge problem which is destroying our youth. We should give our children the following knowledge at their primary level so that they can easily pass through it without getting affected.
When faced with such indirect pressure to do something you're not sure about, try using the following strategies:

Permit yourself in ignoring people or situations that don't feel right, and avoid uncomfortable situations. Set your boundaries. It's right for you to do what is in best interest of you.

Keep check of yourself. Ask yourself, 'How do I feel about this?' 'Is this right for me?' 'What are pros and cons of certain decisions?'
Unhealthy dynamics should be recognized: It's not acceptable to get pressurized, forced or tricked into doing things you don't find appropriate or get threatened if you don't give in. It's not right to get mocked, belittled or shamed by others for your choices and decisions. Put full stop to these behaviors, or you can make a choice to avoid company of such people.

Invest your time in people who respect your choices and won't pressurize you to conform. Remember your worth and you are not duty-bound to please everyone or get liked by everyone. It is difficult to accept, but it helps to try. When it's hard to avoid people or situations that pressured you, practice the 'delay tactics': Take time to ponder upon your decisions instead of hustling in giving the answer: 'Let me think about that',' Can I have a moment “or 'Can I get back to you in an hour'.

When a pressure-filled situation is unavoidable or can't be delayed, then gather courage to say 'No thanks' or just 'No!' If you feel uncomfortable in saying 'no', try other responses,  for instance 'Not now', ' Maybe some other time' or ' Thanks, but not today'. It's OK to put an excuse to challenging truth. For instance, if you are offered a drink by someone and you hesitate in saying no, then excuse of being on medication or have an early appointment the next day.

Take help from a supportive friend in a pressure-filled situation and tell them about your intentions (e.g., ' I don't like drinking, so if you ever see me about to, give me a reminder to stay sober'). Take a stand for others when you see them getting pressured. 'Bystander intervention' (jumping in to help someone when you see them in trouble) can be an effective way to be supportive towards others. If you feel uncomfortable in directly confronting the person who is pressuring, then try distracting them or invite the person getting pressured into doing something else (e.g., Hey, let's go to ladies room “or 'Let's go and take a selfie somewhere'). 

Seek support or advice from parents or other family members, a mentor or a counselor if you require it. We should “LEARN TO SAY NO”. We should immediately push back the person who tries to drag us into something terrible. We must possess the courage to say no to anything wrong that can negatively affect us. We should “FOLLOW OUR HEART BUT TAKE OUR BRAINS WITH US”. We should not blindly follow someone even if they are our loved ones rather we should use our own mind and think first whether it is right or wrong.

We should “ALWAYS SEEK HELP FROM OUR GROWN UPS”. We should ask our elders before doing something. They have more knowledge of this world and can guide through such situations. We should hesitate to ask our grownups even if it feels odd, at the end their knowledge is more and can guide us well. Most importantly we should “BUILD THE SELF CONFIDENCE IN OURSELVES”. We must believe that whatever we our doing is right. We shouldn’t assume ourselves wrong and some else right. We must have enough confidence to do what we believe in.

We need to “MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER WE ARE DOING IS OUR OWN CHOICE”. We should always do what we think is right, not the one which some other person thinks for us is right. We should “ACT COOL WHEN SOMEONE IS PRESSURIZING YOU”. We should listen to what the person around us wants us to do even if they threaten us, but we should always keep our calm and self-control and follow our own decisions. We are not obliged to fulfill someone’s request. We can’t get rid of peer pressure completely but we can eliminate most of it by changing the way we our doing things. If this issue is resolved then most of our teenagers would have a better and happy life. We can also promote positive peer pressure but it is up to us in which direction we lead our society.