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    Managing Peer Pressure Through Your Teens

    By Rohan Shinde
    14 Aug'22  3 min read
    Managing Peer Pressure Through Your Teens
    Synopsis

     Often the youth find themselves facing tough situations when it comes to making choices. With friends and peers being a major influence in these formative years and advising them on what is good for them, the teens may wonder how to handle peer pressure. So how will you get through the quagmire? Read on to get some idea on what to do to handle peer pressure.

    Managing Peer Pressure Through Your Teens
    Synopsis

     Often the youth find themselves facing tough situations when it comes to making choices. With friends and peers being a major influence in these formative years and advising them on what is good for them, the teens may wonder how to handle peer pressure. So how will you get through the quagmire? Read on to get some idea on what to do to handle peer pressure.

    Peers have been a single force that mould human tastes, choices and thoughts. Our views on the kind of clothes, sports, politics, choice of profession and even relationships are the result of what we pick through our growing years. Different types of peer pressures have been responsible for our idea of what is acceptable, what is taboo and permissible, These are defined by the kind of friends we have and the company we keep. There is enough evidence to say that peers are at the 'root' of the types of peer pressure teens face and thereby it is the effects of peer pressure that maps the journey of our life.

    There are advantages and disadvantages of how teens handle peer pressure. It builds their character and paves the way to being a more confident adult who will be equipped to handle peer pressure at work too. Some of the positive outcomes of handling peer pressure is growing up with a deep connect within a community. For instance, playing a sport, representing a team can forge strong bonds with teammates. These bonds can then become the root of influence and teens can face varied effects of peer pressure.

    Also Read: 8 Mistakes You Should Avoid Making With Your Teenage Child

    In Academics

    Most often the peer advice is from a basic and rudimentary level of individual experience. There is less opportunity to have knowledge or learning to backup as authority or evidence. Exchanging ideas can be just the beginning of a journey. Students often choose subjects, colleges or streams based on the choices their friends make. So if you have a friend with an aptitude for medicine or research, it does not mean you have to follow that friend and make the same career choices. You may excel at something else so follow your passion and achieve your goals.

    Not all peer advice is bad, some of the peer interventions help us be achievers, cultivate valuable skills, enhance our potential, create a resilient community or an impactful team. At times it gives us new ambitions and helps us get desired results for ourselves and others. Yet it is best to bounce the thoughts with an adult who has walked the path earlier and has been in your shoes and try to tap into their individual experience.

    Peer Pressure On Social Media

    Teenage years are full of curiosity, adventure and experimenting. While this journey is most thrilling it may simply be a phase that can lead to flawed decisions such as bullying or trolling on social media sites. Social media, as it provides learning and entertainment, is also a place where friendly looking, delinquent persons can take advantage of innocent teens or tweens. So avoid allowing other people, especially unknown grown ups access to your world. One of the best ways to handle peer pressure on social media is to keep private information as private as possible. No giving out numbers, birthdates or any supposed clues that can grant anyone access to your life.

    You Don’t Have To Try It Out

    The phrase 'You never know until you have done it' is what you will hear often. Joining a group for a mountain trek or training in taekwondo, may be some choices you may pursue purely due to intervention from a peer with an idea, ‘trying it out’. However, there is a need to make informed decisions with respect to what is considered as the outcome of those choices. Ensuring your safety, support and counsel is always within reach just in case you are in need of help while stuck in any unpleasant situation.

    How Do You Overcome Peer Pressure?

    There is no scope to moderate what is 'right' or 'wrong' when peers interact. There is not much inhibition as well. However, for the youth, the entire universe is limited to a few experiences only. Choosing an academic course or institute, buying gadgets merely due to peer intervention will make you regret the decision sooner or later. Trust yourself to make an informed decision.

    So how do you overcome the effects of peer pressure? Here’s how; make friends across age groups, talk to people across the spectrum. Ensure you have at least two contacts on your list to discuss what you need to focus on as an individual. These can be anyone, colleagues, college or school faculty, counsellors, anyone who you can turn to for advice.
    While devising practical strategies of handling peer pressure, it would be a good idea to avoid relying on social media and instead have real conversations. Listening to various experiences adds value to your decisions or to the choices you make. You know what others have experienced and think about what you must expect if you consider your peers' intervention.

    Also Read: Why You Need To Draw Boundaries With Your Teenage Child

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