• Peer pressure can happen when we are influenced to do something we usually would not do or stopped from doing something we would like to do. This may be because we want to be accepted by our peers. A peer can be anyone you look up to or someone who you would think is an equal in age or ability.

• A peer could be a friend, someone in the community or even someone on TV. You may experience peer pressure as you live up to either the individual’s or group’s expectations or follow a particular fashion or trend.

• Peer pressure may be present in the workplace, at school or within the general community. It can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. It may affect people in different ways. (p.1)

• Hanging out with people who like doing similar stuff may help to avoid a situation where you feel pressured into stuff you don’t want to do. Being seen hanging out in the cool crowd may not be as much fun as it looks.

• Having the strength to say “no” may be hard. However, it may also feel good to stick with what you believe in. Explaining to people in a calm way why you don’t want to be part of something may earn you respect from others.

• Peer groups are groups of friends who are all about the same age. Having a group of friends is one of the most important parts of being a teenager. It is how teenagers learn to get on in the world of their own age group and to gradually become independent. It is important for parents to understand the value of peer groups for young people. Peer groups can be a very positive influence on your teenager’s life. They can also be a challenge for parents.

• Identification with a group gives us a sense of belonging. Sometimes these groups can influence how we think or act. This influence can be good, reinforcing what we know to be right, or providing us with information on how to act in a confusing situation. However, sometimes this influence is bad, it takes away our own independence and right to make a decision based on what we feel or know.

• Pressure from a peer group can be extremely strong, and hard to resist. We’ve all gone along with something we may not be happy with, just because everyone else is doing it. It’s natural to want to be liked, to fit in, and to part of something – to belong.

• At the end of the day, we are all responsible for how we act, so isn’t it better we made the decision to act that way? Sometimes peers are right, sometimes they’re wrong – it’s up to each of us to decide which and be responsible for how we act. You never know, you might end up being one of the “movers and groovers” in your peer group.

• When we change what we believe, or how we behave, after observing the attitudes or actions of others, we are making this change because of social influence. It is a process of changing our attitudes, values and behaviours in response to the attitudes and behaviours of others.

• Because change can occur in many different ways, sometimes it can lead us to be anti-social and sometimes it can lead us to be pro-social. It will sometimes lead us to take more risks, but at other times will lead us to be more cautious. The change may come in response to the attitudes or actions of many people (like a group of peers), or only one person (like an authority, such as your teacher).

• One reason many people are troubled by peer social influence is because they see it as leading people, both young and old, into unnecessary risk-taking behaviour. Researchers have studied the role of peer social influence on young people’s behaviours relating to smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol and substance abuse. These are risky behaviours because they increase the chances that the outcomes will be negative (such as developing lung cancer from smoking, or the transmission of HIV from unsafe sex).

• Teenage social hierarchy is harsh and obvious, and is worst from grades six to eight. Towards the senior years of high school the social groups or cliques seem to blend and mix as teenagers mature into young adults.

• Teenagers value popularity for different reasons. For some, it is because they are lacking in other talents and want to feel special. For others, it is because they love the attention. Some people want to be popular to get attention from the opposite sex, while some like to feel in control, or feel they are better than everyone else. Whatever the reason, teenagers will go to great lengths to attain popularity, for which its worth in the end, is often not what they expect.

• Peer pressure can manifest itself in various forms, from the irritating to the dangerous. It can be seen in the craving for the latest clothing or footware that everyone is wearing, as well as in teenage experimentation with alcohol or drugs.

• Some research indicates that young people are more likely to bow to peer pressure if they associate with friends who are older. For example, a 15 year old whose friends are 17 or 18 may see these friends as role models or mentors. Positively, this could mean that the younger person has the opportunity to learn academic, athletic or cultural skills from a more experienced student. However, it can also mean that the younger person feels pressured to drink, smoke and participate in other dangerous activities which will ensure acceptance by the older group. In the 15 year old’s eyes these behaviours could be seen as signs of maturity.

• Young people often react negatively to parents questioning them about their friends. They may see this as an invasion of privacy and a sign that they are not trusted to make good choices.