Peer pressure is one major problem under which children are suffering a lot. Nowadays as the competition has increased among people, it is very difficult for everyone to keep up with it. This creates a sense of consciousness among those who are not able to cope up with the stress and they get morally down. This is the base of peer pressure.
I have been through his as a child and t know how ugly it can get. My parents often thought it was my problem that, I was not able to keep up with others in school. This became a great hurdle in my academic career. I was not able to understand how to match up those other kids in school as they were excellent in every other aspect. But with time and help I, was back to my own form of having a great time in middle and high school.
What is peer pressure?
It is a form of social pressure that influences a person to follow someone or a group of people whom they consider to be ‘cool or influential.’ The most common peer pressure happens at school as the seniors are undoubtedly the cooler ones and following them will fetch others the same badge.
Now you know that it is social evil, but do you know what harm it can bring upon school-goers? Although this is a problem that people might face at any point of time in their life, I am putting more emphasis on school students for some reasons:
- They will be too young enough to judge what is right or wrong.
- They suffer from hormonal change during adolescence which creates a lot of emotional turmoil during that period of time.
- The ‘cool’ quotient is just important to them
- They want to grow up in order to have more experience and let go of limitations
All these can create a negative effect on academics and to make things worse, peer pressure works as a catalyst to all these problems.
Effects of peer pressure
Peer pressure can be very mentally destructive to a child. The following things can create lot of problems in a teenager’s academic career like:
- Losing self-identity
They easily start pretending to be someone that they are not. This is when they also spend a lot of time in observing others than doing something actually productive.
- Personality problem
As they tend to lose their own self, the kind of personality they develop is very negative. Unable to handle stress, they get very arrogant and start misbehaving with others.
- Drugs abuse
It is a very common problem among teenagers nowadays. If you have noted, the US statistic shows that 65% of times when a teen starts taking drug is due to peer pressure at school.
- Deteriorating in academics
The above points have a common conclusion that is terrible academic career. Not only that, there are other points those are directly related to issues regarding studies:
- Concentration problem
- Not willing to study
- Piling up problem
- Understanding problem
- Not writing assignments properly
- Creating a bad impression at school
All these points together built up the way to a dull academic future.
Do you know the ways to fight peer pressure?
If you know that you are a victim of this social evil, at the same time you need to know the ways to fight them. When I was a kid, there are certain things that I followed which helped me to get over this problem are:
- Talk it out
If you are suffering from any stress or strain, the best way to handle it is by talking about it to someone. That can be your parents, teacher, sibling or anyone with whom you are able to discuss all your issues.
- Have a strong will
Do not get biased or influenced by what others are saying. You should never indulge into activities which doesn’t match your ideology or nature. Most importantly don’t let others personality overpower you.
- Be focused!
There is no substitute for good academics. This is something that will help you to build a better future and not those school socialites.
- Create your own identity
Believe in yourself. You are best at being yourself and sow that to rest of the people. Play with your strengths and see how easily you will be able to cope up with others. This way you won’t have to follow anyone, rather people will try to be like you!
Student Counseling
In case you are not able to handle this social stress, the best thing you can do is consult a professional counselor. They will you through the problem and will also guide you in the right way. Moreover, a check on the bullies is always important.
You can consult your school counselor or go for a professional teenage therapist as keeping this trauma with you for a long time can make way to academic depression.
Another thing that can kick start peer pressure is not being able to manage with homework and assignments. The root cause can be understanding issues. If you need help in this matter, you can always avail for professional homework help services.
With them not only you will do great in all your assignments, but they can also help you with every other misgiving and query. This way you can score really well. This is a very famous mantra, ‘score well so that peer won’t be a pressure in school.’