Peer Pressure
Social Emotional Wellness
Hey, kid. Want to feel like you have no control over your own life? Have you ever wanted to feel like a puppet being controlled by your Friends? Well you are in luck because peer pressure can do it all. Just sit back, relax and become a follower. What is peer pressure, you might ask? Well, let's just say that one day you're walking with a friend at recess, and you're about to go play tetherball. Then your friend says, tell the boys for dorks. What are we gonna play Foursquare? And you do. Even though tetherball is your favorite. The next thing you know, your plan four square every day. You're like a four square zombie, and you don't even know what happened. Then maybe the next day at lunch. You hear one of your friends, say something like, hey look, there's Josh. He plays tetherball lunch. What a loser. Which makes you feel kind of awkward because you play soccer on the same team as Josh and you're kind of Friends. Then something really strange happens. You catch yourself yelling. Yeah. Tether ball is for. Well, you get the idea. Peer pressure can come disguised in many different costumes. Like, bullying come here or I'll spin on you. Bribing. Pokémon, please, please, please open your best friend, just do it. There's even good peer pressure. Like a friend convincing you to do the right thing. Perhaps not going on the roller coaster after you just ate four pounds of nachos or something like that. The problem is that peer pressure forces you to lose control of your own decisions. It's like someone else has the controller to the video game of your life. The good news is you can always take back control. The bad news is, it's not always easy. And oftentimes, you have to make some really hard decisions. Hard like a math test hard. You might get called names, get into arguments, and even have to change Friends. Sometimes you can solve problems with peer pressure, a little more easily. For example, you could change the subject or come up with another fun thing to do besides the thing that you don't want to do or know you shouldn't do. But sometimes solving the problem can be, well, harder than eating gear all the Halloween candy. And you might realize there's nothing you can do, and you might have to just move on. Changing or losing friends is not anything that anybody ever wants to do. But sometimes you're not left with any choice. And sticking with people who aren't helping you is only hurting you, of course. You're just gonna have to trust yourself that you're gonna be better off without them.