What is peer pressure?
Peer pressure is the influence people your age have on you. They can be friends, schoolmates, neighbours or in your family. Peer pressure can come from people you don't know, or you can even just have a general perception that you should be behaving in a certain way.
Peer pressure isn't always bad. You and your friends influence each other in positive ways every day, by encouraging or helping each other, introducing each other to new bands, films or books, or just by being yourselves. Peer pressure can be negative, though, and could mean you end up doing something you don't want to do.
Keep reading for the story of one boy's experience with peer pressure and how he dealt with it, and see how you can deal with peer pressure, too.
Matt's story
» Matt has started hanging out with some new guys at school.
What would you do if you were in this situation? Do you know who you would talk to? Would it be a parent or relative, a brother or sister, a friend or a teacher?
It can be difficult to face these situations on your own, and you might not know what to do, what to say or how to behave. Talking to someone you trust will help you make up your mind what to do and how to do it.
If you can't or don't want to talk to someone you know, you can contact ChildLine. Their phone number is 0800 1111 (UK only) or there are lots of other way to contact them here.
» Matt doesn't want to smoke, not even once. He hates the smell and he knows how unhealthy smoking is, but he wants the guys to think he is cool. He doesn't want to lose his new friends. He doesn't know what to do.
Even after you've confided in someone, it can still be difficult to stand up for yourself. It can be scary and you might not feel confident.
You don't have to be worried about doing something different to your friends. Your true friends will like and respect you even if you don't want do the same things, and you'll probably find that more people actually agree with you! It may be that some people were pretending to go along with the group.
» After talking to his brother, Matt decides to stand up for himself. If his new friends are real friends, they'll still like him now that he's decided not to smoke.
What happens if your friends don't respect your choices? What can you do? If they're not respecting you, they're not being a friend to you. Would you try and force a friend into doing something they didn't want to do? Would you try and make a friend do something that would make them unhappy? No, you wouldn't - and you deserve to have good friends who will treat you well. The thought of talking to different people can be intimidating, but you may need to stay away from those who are pressuring you for a while. It can be scary at first, making new friends or hanging out with a new group, but it's worth it if they respect you for who you are.
Sometimes it's hard to be honest but you know it's the right thing to do. And remember: people can try to get you to do things you don't want to do, but you and others like you can also influence them into doing the right thing!
» Matt's new friends are really glad that he stood up for himself because they all hate cigarettes too! Nobody wanted to say it so they're happy that Matt was brave enough to speak out.
Images © Rachel Ayres/White Ribbon Association
The peer pressure storyboard (images) is available as a part of the KS1 Activity Pack, KS2 Activity Pack, KS3/4 Smoking Leaflets set and KS3/4 Smoking Posters set.
What is peer pressure?
Peer pressure is the influence people your age have on you. They can be friends, schoolmates, neighbours or in your family. Peer pressure can come from people you don't know, or you can even just have a general perception that you should be behaving in a certain way.
Peer pressure isn't always bad. You and your friends influence each other in positive ways every day, by encouraging or helping each other, introducing each other to new bands, films or books, or just by being yourselves. Peer pressure can be negative, though, and could mean you end up doing something you don't want to do.
Keep reading for the story of one boy's experience with peer pressure and how he dealt with it, and see how you can deal with peer pressure, too.
Matt's story
» Matt has started hanging out with some new guys at school.
What would you do if you were in this situation? Do you know who you would talk to? Would it be a parent or relative, a brother or sister, a friend or a teacher?
It can be difficult to face these situations on your own, and you might not know what to do, what to say or how to behave. Talking to someone you trust will help you make up your mind what to do and how to do it.
If you can't or don't want to talk to someone you know, you can contact ChildLine. Their phone number is 0800 1111 (UK only) or there are lots of other way to contact them here.
» Matt doesn't want to smoke, not even once. He hates the smell and he knows how unhealthy smoking is, but he wants the guys to think he is cool. He doesn't want to lose his new friends. He doesn't know what to do.
Even after you've confided in someone, it can still be difficult to stand up for yourself. It can be scary and you might not feel confident.
You don't have to be worried about doing something different to your friends. Your true friends will like and respect you even if you don't want do the same things, and you'll probably find that more people actually agree with you! It may be that some people were pretending to go along with the group.
» After talking to his brother, Matt decides to stand up for himself. If his new friends are real friends, they'll still like him now that he's decided not to smoke.
What happens if your friends don't respect your choices? What can you do? If they're not respecting you, they're not being a friend to you. Would you try and force a friend into doing something they didn't want to do? Would you try and make a friend do something that would make them unhappy? No, you wouldn't - and you deserve to have good friends who will treat you well. The thought of talking to different people can be intimidating, but you may need to stay away from those who are pressuring you for a while. It can be scary at first, making new friends or hanging out with a new group, but it's worth it if they respect you for who you are.
Sometimes it's hard to be honest but you know it's the right thing to do. And remember: people can try to get you to do things you don't want to do, but you and others like you can also influence them into doing the right thing!
» Matt's new friends are really glad that he stood up for himself because they all hate cigarettes too! Nobody wanted to say it so they're happy that Matt was brave enough to speak out.
Images © Rachel Ayres/White Ribbon Association
The peer pressure storyboard (images) is available as a part of the KS1 Activity Pack, KS2 Activity Pack, KS3/4 Smoking Leaflets set and KS3/4 Smoking Posters set.