Students at Owatonna High School may feel peer pressured by family members, friends or people they are around a lot in their lives. Students may feel the need to fit in with others they are around to be accepted into a group of friends or to simply be able to hang out with them.
Is peer pressure good or bad?
Peer pressure is both good and bad, but it depends on what it is being used for. Peer pressure is bad when it is used to pressure someone into doing something they do not like or do not feel comfortable doing. Peer pressure can cause emotional stress, such as risky and unhealthy behaviors or conflict with personal values, like going against one’s beliefs or morals. It can cause low self-esteem for not following what they believe in, or it can cause a person to feel guilty for not following rules.
Peer pressure can be good when it is being used to help you and a peer become more self-confident by being in a group that can make you feel comfortable being yourself or trying new things together instead of forcing the other person to try something by themself. OHS junior Jada Smith said “Yes peer pressure can be good and other times it can be bad depending on what you are being pressured to do.”
Is trying to fit in good or bad?
Trying to fit in with others can be viewed as good and bad, however it also depends on what one is doing to try to fit in. Trying to fit in is good when fitting in can provide a sense of safety or when working with a group or community. Fitting in can be bad when someone may be shaping themself to fit in with others’ expectations for approval of something.
Students at OHS may have experienced either peer pressure or the feeling of needing to fit in with others whom they are around at some point in their lives. They want to be accepted as a person whom the group likes and accepts into their lives. OHS junior Maya Miller said, “I have felt pressured by someone in my life before.”
How does peer pressure impact students?
Trying to fit in can also create mental health issues just like peer pressure does. The pressure of fitting in can bring insecurity, self-doubt, anxiety or stress. Fitting in can be exhausting because managing a false character can be draining. OHS junior Halle Anderson said, “I have never really felt that I needed to change something major about myself for someone else to like me.”
Also, students may think being peer pressured by others can be scary because it is something that they do not like or do not feel comfortable doing. Feeling the need to fit in due to social media plays another factor. Some may think that seeing someone else do something on social media is what they should do in order to look cool or fit in with the popular crowd.
Overall, students here at OHS and teens in general may feel peer pressure or the need to fit in at times in their lives. It is important to stand strong with the beliefs that shape one’s life, even if that is not what other peers value.
