Peer Pressure Tends To Be Highest During Adolescence: What To Do

Despite being as cool as you (think that you) are now, you were once a kid, too, you know, and probably experienced peer pressure at least once.  What gives? Why is this so many of our experiences? Well, it turns out that peer pressure is hardly a phenomenon and tends to be highest during adolescence. This is because kids want to fit in or gain acceptance from their peers. This pressure can be in the form of peer pressure which can lead to risky behaviors, such as trying alcohol or drugs. However, peer pressure can lead kids to do their best academically or engage in productive activities. Think, joining sports teams or taking part in community service projects.

Why Peer Pressure Tends to Be Highest During Adolescence

Children are likely to mimic the behaviors of their friends in order to fit in or gain acceptance from their peers. However negative peer pressure that leads to risky behaviors can be circumvented or prepared for.

Here are two ways to help your child prepare for negative peer pressure:

1. Conversations. Communication is often the difference between being prepared and being unprepared. Speak with your child about what to expect when they become a certain age.
2. Stories. Stories almost always resonate with kids. Children’s imaginations help them decipher obstacles they haven’t yet encountered. It is also no secret that a child’s imagination is their playground, and is often the key to understanding potentially abstract concepts.

The following story may help with the obstacles that come along with negative peer pressures – 

Get the PDF here or read below: A Story About Peer Pressure

 

5 Of The Best Peer Pressure and Negative Peer Pressure Quotes You’ll Likely Ever Hear

1. Your true friends won’t pressure you to do as they do. They’ll support you to be as you are.
2. Negative peer pressure is just a way of saying “I’m scared to do alone what might hurt me, so I need someone else to do it with me.”
3. Don’t follow others blindly, or you could find yourself on the edge of a mountain with nowhere to go but down.
4. If you wouldn’t do something while your friends are not there, don’t do it when they are. 
5. Take only the roads you choose, not the roads onto which you are pushed.