At a young age, you more than likely learned about peer pressure. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes peer pressure as "a feeling that one must do the same things as other people of one's age and social group in order to be liked or respected by them" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peer ...).
It's reasonable to think that every individual who reads this has faced some form of peer pressure. Peer pressure is a manipulative attempt by someone or a group of people to convince another 'friend' to join in on their activity where that 'friend' typically prefers to be on his or her own. This activity that the 'friend' agrees to join in on is usually a dangerous, disgusting, or unhealthy activity, such as smoking together, drinking alcohol, attempting dangerous stunts, and in most cases, the 'friend' who agrees to join in is the one who gets taken advantage of, and brought down. This 'friend' ends up getting hurt the most and being made fun of. He or she is called vulgar names and/or said to be 'soft', or a worthless piece of [bleep]. Not to mention, there's a potentially traumatic psychological effect from this kind of manipulation.
There's also a physical component to this kind of manipulation. A victim of peer pressure may have compromised health and quality of life. For example, he or she was pressured into smoking a cigarette or having sex with someone, where not only was their life changed, they contracted serious health issues, such as gum disease, heart disease, or some sexually-transmitted infection, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Sometimes these are non-reversible, and it's sadly something that a victim has to live with for the rest of his or her life.
When the 'friend' agrees to a certain activity, he or she is forced to do a requested action, and does it out of fear and avoiding shame. The risks are serious, including aforementioned injury, and even death. More often than not, these kinds of spiteful and hostile actions either go unreported and there is hidden information that is never found, or they get reported years after they happen and the perpetrators get brought to justice far too late. Sometimes they don't get any punishment at all.
There's a video of a girl who gets taken advantage of in such context (although I forget what it's called or where there is a link of it), where she agrees to 'hang out with her friends' but she really gets taken advantage of, beaten up, kicked and punched, and has human excretory waste thrown upon her, and the other girls who she 'hung out with' force her to sweep it under the rug and threaten to harm her if she does report it. The psychological trauma that comes from this isn't just from the brutality of the physical attack, where treatment and therapy are required to recover, but no one wants to be known as the kid who got beaten up and bullied by others at school. Nobody deserves to be recognized for being the one who got attacked or made fun of.
Peer pressure is otherwise known as coercion, and it's a potentially deadly form of bullying. It brings out the true, ugly colors of those who initiate it. It shows who is really a true friend and who really is just attempting to bring you down. Those who initiate peer pressure are the ones who attempt to bring you down since they're already at the lowest point and they don't know a way out other than to try to bring other people there. They bring others thereby mocking, laughing at, teasing, bullying, or abusing those who they try to peer pressure. They change people's lives for the wrong reasons, and the victim of the situation feels lonely, uncomfortable, and trapped.
They aren't supposed to feel that way since there's supposed to be a way out. There's supposed to be someone, known or not to the victim, that can answer the call and hear the report, such as a police officer or family member. Those who initiate peer pressure and force a 'friend' into doing things only so that the 'friend gets made fun of, shamed, and embarrassed, are criminal people who deserve to be punished.
In spite of all the negativity that exists with peer pressure, a victim learns more about who he or she should spend their time with, and learns about who is really worth keeping around and who should just have the plug pulled on them. Lessons are learned, for good and bad, and the lesson is, that it's okay to say 'No' to something you don't want to do. It's okay if you don't fit in with everyone, since you're not supposed to. You are you. It's okay to lose some people who you thought were your friends since they're really not. They've They've deservedly lost you from their lives as a punishment for hurting, or trying to hurt, you. Their true colors tell you that they're not worth your time. Needless to say, they're not worth anybody's time.
I really hope that those who read this article take the time to understand what peer pressure is and what repercussions it has. No person should be peer pressured into anything, but if they are, there is absolutely zero shame or embarrassment in talking to a loved one, or someone who is well-trusted, about the situation, and reporting it. Peer pressure is not something to fool around with; neither are you.
