Peer Pressure Is More Beneficial Than Negative in Character Devlopment
When we think of peer pressure we always think of it in terms of "bad". We think of peer pressure in terms of pressure to; smoke, do illicit drugs, drink alcohol, have promiscuous sex, engage in criminal and quasi-criminal behaviour, do violence, join gangs, etc... We rarely think of the many "good" ways that peer pressure can influence us - and neither do the parents of teens!
Peer pressure is not all bad, in fact it is essential to proper social development that we do learn to "follow the crowd". This is how we learn acceptable social norms; that is, how we are expected to act in the world in order to be good people. The trick is learning to tell the difference between between following the crowd and blindly following the crowd. It takes a person of great character and self confidence to work peer pressure the right way!
The difference between good peer pressure and bad peer pressure can be summed up with a simple comparison - when it is good, you are a member of the crowd; when it is bad, you are part of a mob. If peer pressure is telling you to do something without questioning why, to do something you know is wrong, or to do something you feel uncomfortable doing it is safe to say this is bad. This is the kind of behaviour that leads to a "mob mentality", that is when the group is acting as one and no one seems to be thinking about consequences or outcomes. NOT COOL! If peer pressure is telling you to act in a generally appropriate way, to do the right thing when you may not otherwise, or to do more good than harm it is safe to say this is good. As long as following the crowd doesn't cause you to act without consideration, following is not always a bad thing to do. In a situation where peer pressure is good, individuals in the groups will be acting as individual parts of a whole, each working WITH the other. A good rule is this; if it makes you feel bad it IS bad for you!
A good example of positive peer pressure is test writing. Testing situtations have many
Peer pressure is not all bad, in fact it is essential to proper social development that we do learn to "follow the crowd". This is how we learn acceptable social norms; that is, how we are expected to act in the world in order to be good people. The trick is learning to tell the difference between between following the crowd and blindly following the crowd. It takes a person of great character and self confidence to work peer pressure the right way!
The difference between good peer pressure and bad peer pressure can be summed up with a simple comparison - when it is good, you are a member of the crowd; when it is bad, you are part of a mob. If peer pressure is telling you to do something without questioning why, to do something you know is wrong, or to do something you feel uncomfortable doing it is safe to say this is bad. This is the kind of behaviour that leads to a "mob mentality", that is when the group is acting as one and no one seems to be thinking about consequences or outcomes. NOT COOL! If peer pressure is telling you to act in a generally appropriate way, to do the right thing when you may not otherwise, or to do more good than harm it is safe to say this is good. As long as following the crowd doesn't cause you to act without consideration, following is not always a bad thing to do. In a situation where peer pressure is good, individuals in the groups will be acting as individual parts of a whole, each working WITH the other. A good rule is this; if it makes you feel bad it IS bad for you!
A good example of positive peer pressure is test writing. Testing situtations have many