Keeping Up With The Jonses

Finally, a post about adult peer pressure! There's not much I can say, this article really covers it all. So because it's a short post, I'll find a picture or two on the internet (as opposed to drawing one myself last time) and post them here.

http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=268:adult-peer-pressure&catid=41:business&Itemid=37

Teenage Marijuana

So, this is probably going to be the last post about teens I'm doing, there are other aspects of peer pressure out there. Anyways, according to a study done by the University of Michigan in 2008, around 32.4% of twelfth-graders in 2007 were using marijuana. (At their school, maybe, it doesn't really say.) However, this post is not about negative peer pressure, it's about positive peer pressure.

"According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America Attitude Tracking Study, two-thirds of youth ages 13-17 say losing their parents' respect is one of the main reasons they don't smoke marijuana or use other drugs."

I pulled this quote out of the article for a specific reason, then bolded part of it for the same reason. The bolded part is an example of positive peer pressure, although parents may not be considered "peers" by most. It may be a parent-child relationship, but many teenagers, especially when they get to be around 15, start to view their parents more as equals than superiors. So, anyway, that's all the time I have for tonight, link to full article below.

http://parentingteens.about.com/od/marijuana/a/teensmarijuanadruguse.htm

Teenage Drinking

So, again, teenage drinking is a problem. Not quite sure what to say, as it'll sound like I'm repeating myself after a while. But when going to an unchaperoned party where drinking is encouraged, wouldn't a lot of teens, especially those who don't quite fit in, feel like having a beer is the only way to be accepted at the party and not end up alone the entire time, then they get hooked. Anyway, links below to a couple of articles


http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/teendriving/a/impaireddriving_2.htm

http://teenadvice.about.com/od/drugsalcohol/ht/how_to_say_no_to_drinking_alochol.htm

Picture

Positive Peer Pressure

So, finally found something of merit to post! We all know and hear about negative peer pressure, there's no getting around feeling it in life, either, unless you have no access whatsoever with the outside world. But there is Positive Peer Pressure. An example of this is hanging out with friends who have good study habits. If you have poor grades because of your own study habits, or lack thereof, being around people with good habits should encourage you to get better habits. Now I'll stop before I start rambling, but here's the link to a short article about the differences between Negative and Positive Peer Pressure.

http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/peerpressure/a/peer_pressure.htm

Also, a different link for Teenage Smoking/Sex, as well as drugs and alcohol, which I will probably blog about later with a different article for each.


http://www.familyfirstaid.org/peer-pressure.html

Teenage Sex

 Somewhat big one here. As shown in the textbook for this class, "Sociology: A Brief Introduction", teenagers having sex is a very common occurrence, and also a problem. Teenage pregnancy rates have increased over the last few years, as well as the number of abortions. Again, how is this relevant to Peer Pressure? Alone, a teenager might not want to have sex for multiple reasons. But if all of that teen's friends started doing it, it must be ok. If a girl's friends all are getting pregnant, isn't the logical choice for her to get pregnant as well, otherwise she would be the only one of her friends not to be?

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Again, link to rates and such is below.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

Teenage Smoking

Teenage smoking is a problem, there's no denying that as there are an estimated 4.5 million adolescent smokers in the US, but how does peer pressure fit into this? There have always been, and will probably always be, the "cool" kids at school and the "nerds" at school. If these "cool" kids start to smoke, they may encourage their friends to take up the habit. Other teens, especially the outcasts, might start feeling the pressure to take up smoking as well, just so that they will fit in with everyone else rather than become even more outcast.

Yeah, I guess that's all I have to say, kind of pathetic. I don't know if this is what the posts are supposed to be like, but I guess I'll find out. Link to the site with teenage smoking statistics is Here.