Recently, I saw a message that said kids are taught not to give in to peer pressure, but why aren’t kids taught not to pressure their peers?

This thought really resonated with me because I can't count the amount of times I was told in elementary, middle and high school not to give in to peer pressure, whether it was to abstain from alcohol and drugs or to not pick on someone, even though everyone else was doing it. We were taught endlessly to not give in to our peers and the ways in which they pressured us.

During my junior and senior years of high school, I was involved with a program where we went to the local middle schools and taught students about high school, including how to transition from middle to high school and, of course, how to not give in to peer pressure. I wish I would have emphasized this idea of not pressuring peers because I think this idea really could have enlightened some of these students and really helped to improve their high school experience.

Along with “do not give in to peer pressure,” there are many other lessons we are taught. People, women especially, are taught to be watchful of their drinks and make sure no one slips anything into them. Why are people not told to not slip things into others’ drinks? Children are told not to talk to strangers, when in reality, people should know not to talk to children — or other people, for that matter — they do not know. Some may think it is common sense to not talk to strangers or not to put drugs into other people’s drinks, yet this happens all the time.

What would the world be like if we didn’t have to teach children not to give in to peer pressure because their peers just knew not to pressure others? What if people didn’t have to worry about leaving their drinks unattended, people just knew not to drug them? What if kids didn’t have to worry as much about strangers? What kind of world would we live in? A much better one, in my opinion.

It’s crazy how one-sided these lessons are currently being taught. Unfortunately, children will always have to be taught not to give in to peer pressure and to stay away from strangers, and people — especially women — will always have to be mindful of their drinks. However, if lessons are implemented to teach the other side of this coin – don’t pressure others, don’t put things in people’s drinks – we can hopefully take some steps in the right direction, improving life for many different types of people.