My Life is Vital™ - Hard to Say No? Learn All About Peer Pressure

Healthy School Center

Unique PHR because it belongs to YOU! (Not the insurance company),
Can be used with your doctor's office or hospital,
Maintain medication lists and lab results,
Manage the entire family,
Life-saving information for anytime and anywhere.

Hard to Say No? Learn All About Peer Pressure

Vital Healthcare Group

Having trouble with peer pressure? Dealing with peer pressure isn't easy, especially if your friends are putting pressure on you to do something you know is wrong or against the law.

What is peer pressure?

Peer pressure is when your friends or classmates try to convince you to do something you know is wrong. They may tell you "everyone's doing it." Or they may tell call you names if you don't go along with "their plan."

But caving to peer pressure can keep you from doing what you know is right. Giving in to peer pressure can override your personal values and beliefs of what's right and wrong. In addition, giving in to peer pressure may get you in serious trouble with your parents, at school, or with the law.

Always do what's right

To deal with peer pressure, it's important to stand strong in what you believe. It's necessary to do what you know is right-even though you may be tempted to follow the crowd. Consider the following examples. How would you react?

Your friends decide to skip school and urge you to come along. You know your parents would be furious if they found out you skipped school. Besides, you want to make good grades in math and English and you'd be skipping those classes. What do you do? Would you cave to peer pressure just to be liked?
You are invited to a party after a basketball game. All of your friends are going. But you know they are serving alcohol, maybe doing drugs. While you like the crowd going to the party, you don't want to get in trouble with your parents-or the law. What do you do? Can you stand strong on your own belief system?

Why it's hard to say 'no'

It's very difficult to say "no" when you are tempted by peer pressure. That's because we want to be liked. We have a need to be accepted and a desire to "fit" into a group. Fitting into a group makes us feel secure. It helps us feel like we belong to something bigger than ourselves.

Still, there are healthy ways to "fit" into a group-and unhealthy ways, particularly when peer pressure forces you to engage in behaviors you know are wrong.

Think ahead to combat peer pressure

Many teens feel like nothing bad can ever happen to them. But read your daily newspaper and you will see that's definitely not the case. Good kids get in trouble all the time. Maybe they cheat on a test and get caught. Or maybe they use alcohol or drugs for the first time and get arrested.

Giving into peer pressure-even one time-puts you at risk for ruining your entire future, even plans of college, career, or the military.

That's why thinking ahead-being prepared for peer pressure - is important. Ask yourself the following 10 questions and remember these the next time you are confronted with peer pressure:

Do I know this is wrong?
Could this hurt me physically?
Could this hurt someone else?
Could I be suspended from school?
What will my parents say?
Is this against my family's rules and values?
Will I get grounded?
What are the long-term consequences of this action?
Is this against the law?
Could I go to jail?

Standing strong against peer pressure

There comes a point in life when you must stand strong for what you believe. Most teens realize this at some point, especially when friends tempt them to make bad decisions that could have serious or long-term consequences.

Today the ball is in your court. You know what's right; you know what's wrong. Now is your chance to make your own path-one that may be different from your peers.

If you are faced with peer pressure, think quickly and assess the consequences. Consider the 10 questions in this article and make sure you know the answers. Refuse to go along with the crowd and you'll be a better person for it.