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Impact of peer pressure
Effects of peer pressure on society
Effects of peer pressure on society
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In 2015 Marquis Wortham wrote an article entitled, “The Affects of Peer Pressure on Adolescents”. According to Wortham, “Peer pressure means, being influence or pushed over by friends\age fellows to do something you do or do not want to do” (p.1). He states that Peer pressure influences teenagers to do things they would not normally do, most of which are negative. High school students are often pressured to have sex before they are ready or else they are “not cool” and at risk of being made fun of by other students. It is recurrent for some teens to engage in deviant behaviour with his or her peers with the purpose of acquiring the recognition of their peers. Youth can be persuaded to vandalize property to get the praise of others. It is all too common for youth to join a gang to feel a sense of unity and belonging from their friends. Physical altercations can be encouraged to prove how tough one is to their peers. If a teen wins a fight, with their friends as witnesses, it is common for him or her to gain respect from their friends. …show more content…
Joining a gang has lasting negative effects in an adolescent’s life, even long after he or she leaves the gang. one in three boys between the ages of 15 and 17 years old feel that they are pressured by their male friends to have sex. About 23 percent of 1,854 girls between the ages of 13 and 24 felt pressured to have sex. With this added pressure teens feel compelled to have sex before they are ready. Being sexually active before having knowledge about on how to stay protected can result in early pregnancy or contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Both of which can affect a youth for the rest of his or her
Criminal psychology degree programs look at each of these factors to understand how they affect youth and how these negative influences can be curtailed”.(http://criminology.regis.edu/criminology-programs/resources/crim-articles/contributing-factors-to-juvenile-crime). Peer pressure is something that makes someone feels as though they have to do a certain thing if not others may not be their friend. There are a lot of kids who have to deal with this all throughout school in order to fit in with others or to feel wanted by their friends. For example: In school, girls and boys may be pressured to have sex because all their friends are doing it and it’s cool to do and nothing will happen. After that one time she becomes pregnant, in the back of her mind she may be thinking to herself that if I would not have had sex and remained celibate this would not have happened to me. The reason why she fell for it is because of the pressure to do it from
According to Reachout.com, there are two ways peer pressure affects teens. Those ways are directly and indirectly. For direct pressure it is having
Peer pressure is described as the influence one may feel from an individual or group to do something that he/she may not otherwise consider doing. Is it really difficult to be unique, and stand out from the crowd? Many adolescents have difficulties straying from the so called rebellious teen stage. This is because their emotions run high. Teens think of the consequences of being rejected by their peers, such as embarrassment and shame. These two negative emotions instantly set in the minds of teens. As a result, they become subject to such pressures seen throughout their community and schools. Although peer pressure is not always negative; it is, however, mostly perceived as a negative option of influence. Positive influences between peers are rarely talked upon or praised. Adolescents become acquainted with sex, drugs, fashion, relationships and so on. Many are pressured into such things from the company or friends they keep. Peer pressure has a vast amount of influence from the desire to be accepted, popularity and image and through the media.
Juvenile criminal gangs have long been a significant issue with the criminal justice establishment. Youths coming together to commit criminal acts normally attributed to adult and more vicious criminal organizations are now being routinely committed by juveniles. The reasons for these youths in committing the activities have somewhat baffled author tries as well as scholars and researchers. It must be noted however, that juvenile delinquency is not new; laws in the past have sought to control the criminal and deviant tendencies of children, and prescribing changes from rehabilitative to retribution against criminal acts committed by juveniles. Many of the common assumptions-from being accepted and venting violent behavior- have long been considered as the more traditional reasons accepted as the reasons why youths join gangs. However, research studies have shown that youths are joining gangs for different reasons than just material gain and acceptance. The paper seeks to use the theories espoused by Agnew as well as other supporting postulates proffered by Akers and Sellers, Guillon, and Merton in analyzing the issues as well as the possible solutions in lowering the propensity for youths to join these gangs.
Some of the teens are addicts of substances and they tend to believe that being in a gang will give them the freedom to continue using it. At home, the challenge can be bad since parents may not even have an idea of an addiction or ways of coping. Therefore, most teens are forced to join a mob because they can have the desired freedom and access to the drugs.
Magnusson (1988) and Brofenbrenner (1979) state that social environment in which a person is embedded is essential in the study of their behavior. The theoretical framework of developmental and life course theories of crime allow for the addition of the dynamic element of time and places an emphasis on the longitudinal processes of how the interaction between the individual and his or her social environments constrain and influence behavior.
In the wake of the alarming rate of juvenile delinquency and the accumulating cases of teenage suicide since the mid 90's, it's not surprising to see that the majority started to accuse young people as a source of social problem. Nowadays, some may even consider young people as a group of easily-agitated gangsters euipped with the potential ability and the desire to disrupt the present social order.
Peer pressure is the influence from members of one’s peer group. Peer pressure affect many school aged children, and teenager, because of the desire to want to fit in. Affects of giving into peer pressure can lead to taking drugs, drinking alcohol, and having sex. By researching
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” (Dr.Seuss). Society often thinks of peer pressure as a negative implement. Often times the community imagines peer pressure as teen influencing one another to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and sexual intercourse. But really all peer pressure is, is the encouragement of changing values and behaviors of an individual. Peer pressure can be thought of as positive for teens, because it allows and individual to become a leader in an environment, strong encouragement to work hard in school, and lead a healthy lifestyle.
There was a man named Troy who lived in Oklahoma. Troy grew up in a Christian home and was considered to have a great testimony with his community and local church. He worked at a factory about fifteen miles out of his home. Well one day after work, Troy’s buddies decided to take him out to get a couple of drinks. Troy was a struggling alcoholic, the reason why he was so respected is because everyone thought he beat alcoholism. After a night of laughter and drinking Troy was left to drive by himself to his house. On the way home he passed out and ran right into oncoming traffic, yet he was not hit by another car. Troy hit a tree but on the passenger side of his car. He was unharmed and very grateful that he didn’t hurt anyone or himself. The biggest influence in our lives are the people that surround us. So like Troy a lot of people are apt to give in to peer pressure that involves their struggles. Peer pressure either has a negative effect or a positive effect, but peer pressure should not affect the Christian in spiritual matters.
Children grow up and move into teenage lifestyles, involvement with their peers, and how they look in other peoples eyes start to matter. Their hormones kick in, and they experience rapid changes in their minds, and bodies. They also develop a mind of their own, questioning the adult standards and need for their parental guidance. By trying new values and testing ideas with peers there is less of a chance of being criticized. Even though peer pressure can have positive effects, the most part is the bad part.
Sex is also a major contribution to the many issues that make up peer pressure. Sex to me is the one thing most people regret they did in their lives because 10 minutes of pleasure just because everyone else does it will never match up to the pain somebody may have to go through a lifetime because of a disease caused by sex. Peer pressure is just not worth having a disease the rest of your life, having to swallow 25 pills everyday for the rest of your life.
Have you ever been peer pressured? If so, what did you do? How did you feel? Peer pressure doesn’t only happen to teens, it happens to people of all ages. Who knows, you could have possibly pressured someone into doing something without even knowing it. Not all peer pressure is done intentionally; and it isn’t always bad, but that doesn’t mean it is always good. All people handle these types of situations differently, some better than others. Overall, peer pressure is positive because it enforces kids to try new things, it just takes a responsible teen to know their morals. “Peer pressure” is a term generally associated with the social pains of the preteen and teenage years.
Peer pressure can be both a positive and negative influence and will challenge us do things whether they are right or wrong. This is left for you to determine. Peer pressure can influence several areas in your life like; academic performance, who you choose for friends, it can influence who you mat choose for a boyfriend or girlfriend, it can influence decisions about sex, it may change your feelings about alcohol and drug use, and it can even determine your fashion choice.
Everyone at one point or another has desire to fit into a group, whether it is friends, or something else. This is in our nature and this is what makes us humans. In whatever group they are, they wanna feel secure and have a sense of belonging to that group. But what if one’s so called friend betrays the individual or start doing things which are wrong and force the person to do it with them? This is what negative peer pressure is - trying to mess with the minds and forcing them to be an acquaintance with something which is illegal and wrong.