Tag: pressure

What is Peer Pressure?

A friend’s advice helps everyone. But, we should not follow everything a friend tells us. This is peer pressure.

Peers are people who are part of the same social group, so the term “peer pressure” means the influence that peers can have on each other. We all have experienced peer pressure in some way or another. If our classmate has a blue colour bag, then we also want a blue colour bag. Sometimes we are not tempted to play a game but if all our friends play that game, then we have to play it. Peer pressure is more common with teenagers all around the world. Peer pressure is the main reason for the individual to start smoking, drinking or drug abuse. Peer pressure can affect individuals of all ethnicities, genders and ages. Peer pressure has expanded from strictly face-to-face interaction to digital interaction via social media apps and websites like facebook and instagram.

Positive Peer Pressure

Peer pressure could influence a young person to become involved in sports. This involvement could be positive, leading to exposure to healthy lifestyles and role models, and eventually leading the young person to become a positive role model herself/himself. This is an example of how peer pressure affects an individual positively.

Outcomes of Positive Peer Pressure:

  • As people become our role models we respect others as they inspire us to become like them.
  • Working hard is a part of positive peer pressure. We also have the aim to win or perform our best.
  • We participate in sports and join clubs because our peers also participate in these activities.
  • It also helps an individual in making healthy decisions about studies, personal life and health.
  • Achieving good grades due to hard work is an outcome of this positive peer pressure.
  • We volunteer in the community more often and help other people. This makes us feel good.
  • We also learn leadership skills by taking part in competitions and programs conducted in schools.

Negative Peer Pressure

The most common form of negative peer pressure among school children is to act and behave as per the directions given by a popular person of the group. The children are forced to dress and style in a particular way. Expensive clothes, gadgets and international vacations are demanded by the children of their parents. If the demands are not fulfilled then the child is ridiculed in the group. This stress affects the child’s school performance and social interaction. She/he becomes mentally unstable and weak. The other kind of negative peer pressure is starting up bad habits like smoking, drinking and drug abuse. This kind of peer pressure is also seen among adults and they are forced into these habits by their friends & boss. 

Consequences of Negative Peer Pressure:

  • Losing sight of one’s goals because of no concentration towards the goals of an individual.
  • Spending money lavishly on useless things and addictive things such as alcohol or drugs.
  • Getting addicted to alcohol or drugs due to the pressure by friends to look ‘cool’ in the friend circle.
  • Becoming lazy and inactive and having less enthusiasm towards life. Living an unhealthy lifestyle due to laziness and inactiveness. 
  • Losing personal values. Usually people focus so much to become ‘cool’ that they forget about their values.
  • Becoming depressed and stressed due to our habits. Stress and depression can make anyone lose the spirit of life.
  • We should identify positive and negative peer pressure and deal with it accordingly.

I’m different

I have heard people talking about me being different from other children, since my childhood. My neighbor Aunties, my class teacher discussing with other teachers she is too shy, cannot mix-up well with her classmates, always lost in her own world. That time I was in 3rd standard. And I used to wonder why? What makes me different from other children, why my elders find me different or something abnormal in me… but my classmates never made me feel any different, I had 4-5 good friends and 1 best friend with them I was fully comfortable. From class 1st to 8th, I was in same school and well settled, there was no issue because my classmates have seen me from 7 years and they accepted me as I am, at that time nobody could point out me to be different. Everything was going well and I forgot what people said about me earlier, that time I didn’t feel I’m different from others and I was always excited to go to school.

Then I got promoted to 9th class and my father Got transfer to another City. It took me 2-3 months to adjust there it was hard for me as that was a big change after so many years but I still managed because there also I got a good batch they were very friendly helpful. But after a year, I was in 10th my Father again got transfer and this time it really made a dent in my self confidence. Ya, I am an introvert and I take time to get comfortable with others and I need time to make friends, but others should also try to make me feel comfortable, friendship does not go one way. as I was new in the class that too 10th class lot of pressure of studies, the teachers were also so rude and they didn’t help me to cop up with studies as I have came in the middle of the session nobody helped me. rather my maths teacher started saying I’m abnormal, then I failed in maths half-yearly exam for the first time I had failed in any subject, I got depressed and teachers said I won’t pass 10th, they suggested my parents for drop out that year. I suffered a lot of health problems due to maladjustment, but somehow I managed to score 76% in 10th board exams. Class 10th was the worst year of my school life. I did my 12th also from that school and those 3 years were like prison for me, I had no friends there some students used to bully me because I don’t talk much, but that’s their point of view, I’m talkative around right people:-)

Now I’m in 2nd year in college, I have many friends but not any best friend but that’s okay…I have learned to walk alone. I need to overcome my shyness but being an introvert is my nature..I can’t change it and there is no harm in being a bit different:-)

Do Results Really Matter?

Many states have declared their results for this year. Similarly, ICSE and CBSE also declared their results recently. Many of them have secured good marks and some of them have not secured what they have expected it’s a same story every year where many students had achieved their dream and some of them failed to achieve it. In India June-July-August is known for its results season. I would say it’s also neighbours and relatives judgement season in which they judge the calibre of the appeared students with the marks they score in their exams and forecast their future. Yes, results matter in many ways if the students’ scores good marks the students will get himself admitted in his dream college he will be living his dream life thereafter. Students with good marks can fulfil eligibility criteria of many companies who hire students with good marks only. Student with good result have a different queue in many places, we all have experience it in some stage of our life let us take a simple example of interviews of toppers in all news channel interviewing about their success story, their hardships, their routine time-table and the list goes on. In our childhood when we take small small steps and put our leg forward watching a smiling face of our parents stand at a distance and encouraging us so that we can reach towards them but in between of our path we fall down our parents will reach out to help and then start blaming the tiles, ground who make us fall. We have a habit of blaming someone for the cause of action performed by us be the tiles, ground or let’s say the tuition teacher, the education system, the environment or maybe God.

Exam results cannot decide what future holds for us. Exam results are just numbers written on a paper but sometimes we emphasis on them a lot than they deserve. No doubt exam results are important but it was just one opportunity from the plenty others which are waiting for us with open arms in future. We have many alternative paths to choose our career from. As the main aim is to have a career which can help us to yield. India’s education system runs on the principal of mugging if the students can mug the book and puke it on answer sheet he will get a tag of an intelligent students. In real world this principal doesn’t work they are more interested in the knowledge the students has and how that knowledge can be useful for their company’s day-to-day activities. Parents of the students play a vital role in these times they should talk about the brighter side which the future holds. Parents are more interested in comparing the marks of their child with other child this builds a pressure on the child which have their own side effects. Nowadays, depression is the most common phenomena in teenagers once the child start thinking no one accepts him, everyone judges him, he has no purpose in life etc. are the common symptoms of depression.

In my opinion I think the students should really ask themselves the question what he/she was doing during 4-5 months prior to the exam this will give a clear idea to the student what he/she has done in past. Keeping that thing in mind the students should act accordingly in future. Parents should also keep their child motivated, teach them that they had only missed an opportunity, prepare them for future hurdles and unfold other opportunities which will come in their way. The students should believe in themselves they should know the importance of education and how education can change once life in so many better ways.