Fitzann Reid

Is Peer Pressure a Scapegoat?

Teenagers have been using "peer pressure" as an excuse way to often to explain their behavior or certain actions- and the funny thing is that society buys into it. I personally am tired of it and I think that the whole concept is bullshit.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a teenager and my peers have pressured me but I have never found it difficult to say no. If your are pressured to do drugs and you do it- then you have either low self-esteem, an excessive need to portray a image that is not a clear representation of you, you want attention or you did it because you wanted to. More often then not teenagers do it because they want to. It's that sense of exploring something never explored before. It is also in some ways a secret betrayal against the teachings of their parents. It's that rebel attitude that drives them to do something unbecoming of them. BUT IT'S NOT PEER PRESSURE. Peer pressure is only the excuse used when one gets caught.

There is something different in the way teens think and they way society thinks. To understand the way adolescent or pubescent youths reason we first must start by defining adolescence and tracking the typical adolescent growth pattern.

Adolescence is the stage of maturation between childhood and adulthood. The term denotes the period from the beginning of puberty to maturity; it usually starts at about age 14 in males and age 12 in females. The transition to adulthood varies among cultures, but it is generally defined as the time when individuals begin to function independently of their parents.

No dramatic changes take place in intellectual functions during adolescence. The ability to understand complex problems develops gradually. The French psychologist Jean Piaget determined that adolescence is the beginning of the stage of formal operational thought, which may be characterized as thinking that involves deductive logic. Piaget assumed that this stage occurs among all people regardless of educational or related experiences. Research evidence, however, does not support this hypothesis; it shows that the ability of adolescents to solve complex problems is a function of accumulated learning and education.

The physical changes that occur at pubescence are responsible for the appearance of the sex drive. The gratification of sex drives is still complicated by many social taboos, as well as by a lack of accurate knowledge about sexuality. Since the 1980s, however, sexual activity has increased among adolescents; recent studies show that almost 50 percent of adolescents under the age of 15 and 75 percent under the age of 19 report having had sexual intercourse. Despite their involvement in sexual activity, some adolescents are not interested in, or knowledgeable about, birth-control methods or the symptoms of sexually transmitted disease. Consequently, the rate of illegitimate births and the incidence of sexually transmitted disease are increasing.

The American psychologist G. Stanley Hall asserted that adolescence is a period of emotional stress, resulting from the rapid and extensive physiological changes occurring at pubescence. Studies by the American anthropologist Margaret Mead, however, showed that emotional stress is not inevitable, but culturally determined; she found that difficulties in the transition from childhood to adulthood varied from one culture to another. The German-born American psychologist Erik Erikson saw development as a psychosocial process going on throughout life. All three insights are valuable in their own way, but each adolescent shares a unique task: to develop from a dependent to an independent person who relates to others in a humane and well-socialized fashion.

At adolescence, peer relations expand to occupy a particularly central role in young people's lives. New types (e.g., opposite sex, romantic ties) and levels (e.g., "crowds") of peer relationships emerge. Peers typically replace the family as the center of a young person's socializing and leisure activities. Teenagers have multiple peer relationships, and they confront multiple "peer" cultures that have remarkably different norms and value systems.

As teens experience physical and sexual changes - a newfound self-awareness develops. Many become critical of their body and their social status. This is heightened by the need to be the most popular or to fit in.

Now as I said before- conformity to pressure may stem from ones one's low self esteem, a need to portray a certain personality, a need for attention or even ones own willingness.

Not all teenagers are able to correctly identify themselves. Those that don’t tend to see themselves as lesser then others. This is the typical symptom of low self- esteem. These are the people who do what they see all others do. They are also the easiest to manipulate. Most teens won't admit that they have low self- esteem and instead they use peer pressure as their excuse.

Similarly, there are those teens that want attention or who want to portray something that they are not. They want to be cool or want to be cool. They want to show their friends that they are afraid of anything when the truth they are afraid of their own identity. Homosexual or bisexual teens that remain "in the closet" are a good example of this quality. This false identity is expected to be maintained. So when presented in a situation where peers are expecting a certain behavior- these teens feel almost forced to conform. But the reality of it is that it was actually the teen who placed themselves in that situation.

Lastly there are those who just want to do it. They want to try drugs and go against their parents. They maintain this rebel mentality and fell as though they want to an individual. They almost look for trouble. And when that trouble comes and they are caught- its almost an automatic response to blame it on peer pressure.

Personally, I never had a problem with peer pressure and I never felt the need to conform to others. Many say I have a strong personality that enables me to do this- I say I could care less of what others think of me. But this is not the typical attitude I found while doing my interviews.

Taking a two testing groups- A and B- each consisting of five people, I asked them to tell me what peer pressure was and how they personally deal with it.

Group A, which consisted of all girls, said that they find it quite easy to say no to other girls- but much harder to say no to guys. "Guys are much more persistent and convincing then other females" was the response of one of my test subjects. When asked to categorize themselves (low self- esteem, willing participant, want to fit in or maintaining an image)- three of the five said they were will participants the first time, but after that they had to maintain an image. The other two said that it was a combination of low self- esteem and wanting to fit in.

Group B, which consisted of all guys, said that they find it hard to say no to other guys. "We have maintain that manly image and if you don’t then your considered to be a ---- sucker." I heard other responses such as: "guys wont respect you if you don’t show them that you are ready to take on a challenge", "as a guy you almost have to conform to pressure because if you don’t your opening yourself up for ridicule" and "females don’t play a part in peer pressure unless your trying to impress them." When asked to categorize themselves (low self- esteem, willing participant, want to fit in or maintaining an image)- the response was almost foretold already and they all said that they have to maintain a certain image.

The question is not how to fight peer pressure; the question really is why do most teens use peer pressure as a scapegoat to cover up their own insecurities? The answer is quite simple- because they don’t want to take responsibility and society always buys into it. Society it self sometimes refuses to take responsibility and it becomes easier to accept a teen saying I was forced to do it rather then saying I wanted to do it.

The greatest manipulators in the world are those that are able to manipulate society. Teens surprisingly enough fall into this category. This is not to say that teens are smarter then adults. The fact is that may adults have forgotten what it's like to be a teen. Some famous guy said, "to defeat the enemy you have to think like the enemy." May teens are able to manipulate society only because they know what society wants to hear.

The funny thing is that we can use term peer pressure as a scapegoat but so long. When adulthood is reached all those insecurities and self- identity problems will reveal itself.

* special thanks to all to those who participated in the project research: Avraham, Moshe, David, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, Roya, Sandra, Sharon and Naomi.