Students at North Star are very familiar with Peer pressure.  It is defined as “influence from members of one’s peer group.” For example, When Gryphon Gazette reporters were deciding whether or not peer pressure was a good story for the paper, one student who overheard their conversation said writing about peer pressure would be interesting to hear about, and then the class joined in the conversation, expressing their agreement.  This is an example of how peer pressure can affect the choices we make..

“My friends might be into something like pokemon cards for example, and then I might buy some pokemon cards and end up buying something I don’t like!” says 6th Grader Mateo B. “I just have to remember that sometimes people don’t do smart things, and I have to make smart decisions!

6th Grader Josie D. says “Peer pressure definitely affects me and makes me nervous and distracts me from other things. To deal with peer pressure, I like to take deep breaths and count to 10.”   

Peer pressure can be very bad at times and you should do what you know is right as you probably won’t regret it.

Viana 4th grade said that while she did not experience lots of peer pressure her friends did. She said it makes them stressed and interferes with their ability to do well in school. She honestly hates it and says peer pressure gets to lots of students. She also thinks it is one of the top reasons people are getting depressed these days.

Peer pressure is one of the most foolish things to ever exist. Even though most people say they’re very resistant to peer pressure, most of them are probably lying. Most people who said that peer pressure did not affect them actually affected them a lot. Another thing is that most people don’t really know the difference between peer pressure and changing their minds

“Peer pressure is something that students need to learn to deal with at a young age or it can start really affecting them! Some students end up going down that rabbit hole of peer pressure and end up in some pretty bad situations!” Says 5th Grade Teacher Mrs. Snyder.

“There is peer pressure all around things like grades, or maybe the languages from your friends, or the people around you!” Says Ms. Kristi. “I think one way to deal with peer pressure is to talk to an adult that you trust. You can also think about your values compared to your friends’ values. Peer pressure is important because your friends change a lot and the way they change can influence you in a good or bad way.”

In conclusion, peer pressure is usually not a good thing, and usually affects people in a negative way, but there are ways to stay true to yourself and not givegiv in to it.  Hopefully you aren’t easily peer pressured.