Peerpressurereferstotheinfluenceexertedbyapeergroupinencouragingapersontochangehisorherattitudes,values,orbehaviorinordertoconformtogroupnorms.Thoughtheideathat“everyone’sdoingit”cansometimesstrengthenoursenseofcompetition,itcanalsomisleadustoleaveourjudgment,orourcommonsensebehind.
Noonecanavoidpeerpressure,however,aswegrow,welearntodealwithitproperly.Tobeginwith,wemustbetruetoourselves.Payingattentiontoourownfeelingsandbeliefsaboutwhatisrightorwrongwillhelpusmakeourowndecision.Innerstrengthandself-confidencekeepusstandingfirminsteadofbeingaffectedbytheexternalinfluences.Secondly,becarefulwhenchoosingfriends.Wemaytrytogettogetherwithfriendsofsimilarvalues,interestsorbackgroundstoreducethepressurefromdifferentminds.What’smore,whenwefindthepeerpressureisoverwhelming,wemightaswellturntosomeonewetrustforhelp.
Thoughwemayfeelannoyedwhencaughtinpeerpressure,wecanlearnalotthroughcopingwithit.Eventuallywewillreachthebalancebetweenourownbeliefsandexternalinfluences.