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The effects of peer pressure on adolescents
The effects of peer pressure on adolescents
The effects of peer pressure on adolescents
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Every student who tries to succeed or do their very best in class knows the pressures of schoolwork, extracurricular activities, sports, volunteer work, and applying to college. Even if the student isn't trying to get into Ivy League schools, they still know how much work it takes in a work to keep their grades average. Students are influenced by peers, parents, and even teachers to be the best, and some students are willing to go to extremes to achieve that goal. Sometimes these burdens add up to be too much for a person, and they feel as if they need a way out from all the stress. This was the case with Neil Perry, who's suicide could possibly be blamed on his teacher, himself, and his parents. After Neil's suicide, Neil's school, Welton …show more content…
Academy, desperately needed a scapegoat because the school officials feared the news of his passing getting out and ruining the school's reputation. Instead of looking at other possible aspects of Neil's life, such as his family life, and his relationships with his peers and himself, they choose to single out his new English teacher, who's teaching style was a little more different than the other teachers at Welton. Mr. Keating's teachings may have been taken too seriously by the students, and the boys might have misinterpreted what the meaning behind the lectures, and class work actually was. It was his fault for not realizing that could happen, and what the consequences would be. He also did not understand that by encouraging the boys to "seize the day", he was advocating behavior that parents did not accept. The school placed the blame of the suicide solely on him, and what he taught his students, even without looking at other perspectives. With Mr. Keating's teachings, Neil felt as if he needed to seize the day, and he did so by trying out for a play and discovering that he had a passion for acting. Knowingly going against what his father wanted for him, Neil faked a permission slip needed act and he did not tell his father he was in the play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", let alone the lead. When Mr. Perry found out Neil lied to him, he prohibited Neil from acting. Neil, then, still performed and his father caught him again, which ultimately lead up to his death. Neil was undeveloped and unable to think rationally when he decided to take his own life because he was only a young teenager.
He was thinking in the heat of the moment and did not consider how his death would affect his peers and family in the future. Instead of telling his father how he felt about acting the night he got caught, he did not explain himself. Then, instead of weighing out the other possible options, Neil chose to end the stress that night. Mr. Keating was not the only adult to influence Neil's choices throughout the movie. Mr. and Mrs. Perry control the majority of Neil's life choices, such as his career path, what schools he attends, and most importantly, his passions and extracurricular activities. Mr. Perry constantly pressured Neil to do what he wanted and did not consider Neil's desires or feelings. He forced Neil to quit writing for the school, and he pushes Neil to quit the play, his one true passion. He patronizes him to the extent where Neil can not even stand up for himself because his father has knocked him down countless times. Mr. Perry also guilts Neil into doing what he wants by telling him that his "mother is proud" of him and stated Neil has had more opportunities than he had. Not only did he restrict Neil from the play, he did not even attempt to listen to Neil when he tried to justify joining the play. Mr. Perry essentially lives his high school years through Neil, dominating and destroying his
life. Mrs. Perry is also one to blame because she does not try to support Neil, or defend him against his father. She was never there for him. Suicide is a personal choice, but there are many factors that could go into making that decision. Neil's parents judging his every move and not supporting his dream was what ultimately pushed him to the his breaking point. He tried to "seize the day" as Mr. Keating said too, but he ended up getting crushed, and decided that if he could not have his dream than he should not have his life either.
what he did to the family. It took me awhile to get a good impression of Perry.
Neil tries to make sense of why Effie would become so emotional upon seeing him, and tries to discover more about this mysterious person for whom she is waiting...
Perry Smith did not live the happy childhood that he deserved, abandoned by his family at a young age he was forced to live at a terrible orphanage. “The one where Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me. Because of wetting the bed...They hated me, too.” (Capote 132). In this specific orphanage, Perry was beaten by the nuns that own the place. The short sentences within this quote truly emphasize the dramatic and horrible conditions that Perry had to live with in the orphanage. Sympathy is created ...
He is the character that most sympathized with because of his past. He never had a connection with his alcoholic mother and siblings. His parents never gave him the love, direction, and the moral values that children need from their parents. This contributed to his behavior. While Perry was testifying, Dr. Jones characterized him with severe mental illness. He mentions that Perry has “paranoid orientation toward the world,” (Capote 297). He goes into further detail by mentioning that Perry “is suspicious and distrustful towards others, tends to feel that others discriminate against him, and feels that others are unfair to him and do not understand him,” (Capote 297). It is completely understandable why Perry would think like this. He was treated horrendously by the nuns in the orphanage and when he lived with his family. Since Perry never had anything good happen to him growing up, he feels like he has to take out his frustration on people who are good. Vengeance for what he did not receive. While in court, Perry mentions why he killed the Clutter family, “It wasn’t because of anything the Clutters did. They never hurt me. Like other people. Like people all my life. Maybe it’s just that the Clutters were the ones who had to pay for it,” (Capote 290). Dr. Jones diagnosis Perry as a paranoid
During his childhood, Perry experienced and was marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents (Capote 296). Dr. Jones gives a very detailed description of Perry's behavior. He says that Perry, who grew up without love, direction, or m...
book, and by the end of the book we feel like we know exactly how Perry feels, and we have a understanding of some of the hardships that the soldiers faced in Vietnam. In this book, Perry kills
Neil Perry, a student at the school, committed suicide after his parents reprimanded him die to his Transcendentalistic actions. Perry defied his father when he chose to perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream as the character Puck. This is also another example of non-conformity, Perry does not conform to what his father expects of him and thus angers his father greatly. When his father decides he is going to send Neil to military school and then Harvard, Perry decides he has nothing left to live for and commits suicide. This deeply affected his parents, his fellow students, the school, and Mr. Keating. Non-conformity in this case is done for selfish reasons. Neil’s father only wants what is best for his son, but Neil rejects his father’s advice and disobeys his commands and when he has to face the consequences, he decides he can live no longer. Neil’s suicide was not an act of rebellion, he committed suicide out of fear for the consequences of his actions which were lead by Transcendentalist
He grew up in a different environment with a broken family with no apparent dreams. As a young boy his parents separated and he was forced to go with his mother. He later ran away to be with his father who turned him down and ended up being abandoned by his family completely. He then came to stay at a catholic orphanage, where he was abused by nuns and caregivers. His father finally decided to take him into his care and together they got away and traveled, ending his education before passing the third grade which bothered him as he became older. Perry joined the marines and army, then came back to relocate his father. Him and his father had a breakthrough over starvation, leaving Perry with no one else to turn to and therefore getting involved in committing crimes. Once he got caught and jailed, his mother had died and his brother and sister had both committed suicide. By all his experiences we can say Perry definitely lived a different life and his family portrayal was very different from the Clutters. After so much abandonment and abuse, we can understand why he almost feels nothing and how growing up has affected him. The American Dream for Perry might not have been a “perfect family” but may have been to find something with order, and control. The dream Perry’s family would be focused on is reaching a decent life as their past has been
Stress Induced Suicide Julie Scelfo’s “Suicide on Campus and the Pressure of Perfection” first appeared in The New York Times magazine on July 27, 2015. Scelfo discusses the pressure that family, society, and the individual places on themselves to be perfect. This stress ultimately results in college- age students taking their own lives. “Nationally, the suicide rate among 15- to 24-year-olds has increased modestly but steadily since 2007: from 9.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.1 in 2013.” Scelfo uses an anecdote, statistics, and expert’s observations to successfully portray her stance on this issue.
What prompts his aggression, again, is the conflicts Neil has with himself. Of course, one of the key examples of Neil’s aggression is his violence towards his father. Neil’s father came to the Curries house and began looking for Neil. Neil was running towards the loft “but first [he] had to ward off [his] father … so [he] threw a stone” (131) Neil is fighting off his father here as he does not want to face him and discuss his aggression. Timothy Findley is implying that the protagonist is feeling aggressive due to his internal struggle with himself about feeling ignored and unloved. Furthermore, Neil’s sense of mistreatment leads him to be unresponsive and just violent and aggressive. When Neil’s dad finally approaches him he asks, “Neil aren’t you going to explain why you’re angry? [Neil] thought for a minute and then [he] didn’t answer him after all… [Neil’s dad] looked worried” (132). The audience can infer that Neil resorts to aggression and violence rather than talking because he feels that no one listens to him and no one cares about him, this again, connecting back to Findley’s original theme about internal struggles. Thus, the characteristics of aggression in Neil displays the truths about people struggling with internal issues and
There have been many instances of suicide that have occurred in the past years at universities across the country, and since it is such a sensitive subject, there have not been nearly enough coverage as this topic deserves, considering this issue does not seem to be going away. When collecting data about suicide statistics, the age range is broken down as people ages 15-24, which spans most developmental years. Within this bracket are college-age students and this age-group has by far the most troubling statistics around it.
In the past 35 years the suicide rate for college campuses has tripled (Oswalt 1995). This shows that there is a clear need for something to be addressed within the college community. The recent surveys show that about 10-15% of college students are depressed (Lindsey 2009). Depression can be a debilitating illness especially when many students attend college away from their close friends and family. This could result in students with more suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide. In fact, the number of students with suicidal thoughts has tripled over the past 13 years as the number of students seeking help for depression doubled in the same span (Lindsey 2009). Depression can effect these teens in other areas of their life as well. The students who reported that they were depressed also reported that they considered their health fair or poor (Lindsey 2009). In their cases, depression not only effects them psychologically but also physically. Depression is also known to impair psychosocial development and academic success (Lindsey 2009). With all of these factors put togethe...
He goes to his dad night stand, opens the drawer, and takes his father’s revolver with him. Neil goes to the basement and near the desk he shoots himself. No blood or gunshot is shown. I think this was done so people don’t see a teenager committing suicide and blood all over the place with a shot in the head. This scene was very hard to believe since he was very smart and was seen happy with his friends. This final decision was because of his father and not letting him live peacefully. Todd was the most upset and emotional of the group after Neil’s death, which is ironic because Nwanda and Knox were the romantics, so they might be expected to be the most upset. They, however, remained calm, not fully understanding why Neil would have committed such an act.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause for 5 to 14 year olds. Suicide accounts for twelve percent of the mortality in the adolescent and young adult group. Young males are more common than young woman suicides. These are only children who followed through with the suicide. For every successful suicide there are fifty to one hundred adolescent suicide attempts. In other words, more than five percent of all teenagers tried to commit suicide, and the number is still rising. It is scary to think that four percent of high school students have made a suicide attempt within the previous twelve months. In a small safe town like Avon, in the Avon High School where you and I practically live, you can see the faces of 22 students that have tried to commit suicide. That is enough to fill a classroom.
academic failure, financial stableness, not reaching the goal that is desired and many more. According to the National Association for Suicide Prevention everyone has different reasons for being depressed and the extent of that depression will also vary from person to person. Some common causes of depression that have been found to lead to college suicide are not feeling loved or understood, the feeling of rejection, trouble with friends and family, or the feeling of being “no good”, and not reaching the academic standards (42). Kay Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University said in the Universi...