STUDENTS' ARTICLES

NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE EFFECTS OF PEER PRESSURE

Co-written by

Solace Asagi Awonlie-NEW SITE (2g13-SCI)

&

GILLY ADJEI-BOAFOH (2g4 protocol prefect)

Solace Asagi Awonlie-NEW SITE (2g13-SCI)

Peer pressure is the phenomenon wherein we tend to get influenced by the lifestyles and the ways of thinking of our peers. Peer pressure can prove beneficial but it is most often observed to have negative effects on society. What is negative peer pressure? What is positive peer pressure? How does it affect the teenagers? To know all about it, read on...

The thoughts, behavior and tastes of fashion, music, television and other walks of life of the masses are often seen having a deep impact on the living of the society. We tend to get influenced by the lifestyles of our peer group. The changing ways of life of our peers often force us to change our ways of looking at life and leading it. It's a human tendency to do what the crowd does. Few have the courage to resist the peer pressure and be their own selves rather than being one among the lot. Peer pressure is bound to affect most of us especially the TEENAGER, both, positively and negatively. The distinction between positive and negative peer pressure lies in a thoughtful analysis of the views of the masses. Following your peers blindly leaves a negative impact on your life while an analytical approach of looking at peer behavior can act positively. Let us look at the positive and negative effects of peer pressure.

Negative Effects of Peer Pressure

When you do not like a particular idea or when you have no inclination towards a particular field, it is obvious that you won't like to go by it. For sure, you won't like to go that way. But it is your peer group, who may compel you on doing something you hate. In such cases, there are chances that you won't do well in those things. Things you do not enjoy doing cannot fetch you success. You cannot emerge successful in something you have never liked doing. So, it is important that you do not lose happiness of your life by succumbing to peer pressure.

GILLY ADJEI-BOAFOH (2g4 protocol prefect)

Many a time, it so happens, that we are forced to lead a certain kind of lifestyle due to peer pressure. You may not like partying on every weekend, you may not like night outs with friends, you may hate drinking or smoking, but peer pressure may make you do all that you had never wished to. There are many teenagers who experience great pressure from their peer group that forces them to take to drinking, smoking, clubbing etc. You may take to something as grave as drug use, and that too, only because of peer pressure. In such cases, being overly pressurized by your peers can be detrimental to your living. Most teenagers literally spoil their lives by giving in to peer pressure.

Peer pressure can lead to a loss of individuality. Extreme peer pressure may lead you to follow what your peers feel right. Their pressure may compel you to go by everything they think right. You tend to blindly imitate the masses; you adopt their tastes of fashion, clothing, hair, music and general living. Peer pressure can actually lead you to lose your tastes of life and force yourself to begin liking what they like. Peer pressure is the human tendency to join the bandwagon, in which, the person loses his/her original way of looking at life.

Positive Effects of Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is not always bad. It can help you analyze yourself and contemplate on your ways of life. Some of the practices that the masses follow may actually teach you the way of living. You may be able to change yourself for the better. Looking at what others do, can help you bring about a positive change in your way of thinking. If you can pick selectively, peer pressure can actually result in a positive change in your way of life.

Knowing what the masses follow exposes you to the world outside your home. You understand the things going on around you. You are exposed to a wide variety in human behavior. Exposure to peer pressure gives you an opportunity to think about their tastes and their outlooks towards life. It gives you a chance to choose the best from what the masses do.

If you are fortunate to get a good peer group, your peers can play a vital role in the shaping of your personality. Their way of looking at life may influence you to change for betterment. Some of your peers are your close friends, who do not pressurize you to do things but rather inspire you to change yourself. Your peer group may actually persuade you to bring about a constructive change in your personality. Peer pressure can lead you to make the right choices in life.

 Teenage Peer Pressure

Teenage is that phase of life when you are exposed to the world outside. These are the years when you spend most of your time with your friends. Teenage is the phase of beginning to become independent in life; the years of forming your ideals and principles, the years that shape your personality and the years that introduce you to your own self. Adolescents often spend most of their daily time with friends and owing to this vulnerable age, they tend to imitate their friends. The people around you are bound to influence you. However, the effect of the influences of the masses is greater during your teen years. Parents have a vital role to play during this phase of a person's life. Parents and teachers need to be careful while dealing with teenagers, as they are most susceptible to succumb to peer pressure during these years of their life. Teenage individuals need to be taught to distinguish between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong and should be taught to be thoughtful in life.

A strong support from family, an ability to differentiate between the positive and the negative and a skill to choose friends from the peers - this three-pronged strategy is the best way to keep away from negative peer pressure.

DATING ON CAMPUS

By Vicentia Etornam Blavo-New site (Form 3 Art 1-2g13 year group)

Often people ask if it is okay to date on campus. Some say yes, others say no.

Campus dating may be good if the relationship is very healthy and chastely but then very few people can uphold the all-important laws of remaining chaste and morally upright.

If you ask me, I’d say it’s not exactly okay to date on campus because it gets to a point where both parties cannot resist each other, and when this happens, they sometimes have to skip classes, hide in some corner and engage in some ungodly behaviors just to satisfy their bodies!

As young as we are, our minds and limited time should be channeled towards our education rather than wasting it on a guy or girl that we most likely not going to marry. The moment a student starts dating, regardless of your level of intellect you begin to fall gradually in the academic ladder, because you tend to spend less time on your books and academic work and rather spend most of your precious time thinking about your boyfriend or girlfriend. Also, you spend a chunk of your precious time brooding over some relationship problems you may be going through with your partner.

The situation even gets worse especially when both students get obsessed with each other. The guy might want more than the usual kisses, pecks and cuddling. Thus the guy or sometimes even the girl may want to have sex! Guys are especially guilty of cajoling girls into sleeping with them just so they can prove their love for them! But I think any guy who pesters a girl for sex before marriage is no good! And any girl in such a relationship should know that the relationship has no future!

I suppose all of us have heard about the good old Biblical verse about our bodies being the temple of God and that if you sin against your body you have sinned against God. Indeed our bodies should be kept holy for God and our future husbands and wives.

As a young student, if you date on campus, because you are not mature enough to handle all the pressures that come with relationships, you become oblivious to your primary goal of attaining academic excellence and rather your precious time and energy is channeled towards things that don’t matter. The most painful aspect of it is that some wicked and heartless guys after sleeping with you will share it with their friends and in an instant you have been branded the campus whore and a laughing stock all over campus, and there goes your hard earned self-dignity, respect and pride!

The situation becomes even worse especially when the girl becomes pregnant in the process, the guy denies being responsible for the pregnancy and all of the girl’s ambitions in life are dashed in a twinkling of an eye! My heart aches for the girls because we are the most vulnerable ones. When a teenage girl is impregnated, it’s either she opts for abortion and risk leaving a perpetual damage to her womb or worse risk losing her life in the process. And even if the guy takes responsibility of the pregnancy, it is the girl who is going to waste at least two years of her precious life giving birth and nursing a baby she didn’t plan to have! Not to talk of the social stigma attached to giving birth whiles you are a teenager and unmarried!

So to avoid all or any of the above problems associated with on-campus dating or unhealthy relationships, why don’t we all shun the idea of engaging in unhealthy relationships? I think we cannot attain our dreams while wasting time brooding over relationships and its antecedent problems! I believe achievers don’t look at the going but concentrate on their goals! But most importantly, fellow students should know that it is better to choose your career over boys or girls because your career will never wake up one day and tell you that it DOESN’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE!!!

STUDENTS' ARTICLES