It is widely observed that the young are often susceptible to others of the same age as them, mostly when it comes to education. While some people argue that peer pressure may exert detrimental effects on their life with a feeling of emotional inadequacy, i firmly contend that its advantages comprehensively eclipse its negative counterparts.
On the one hand, severe strain put on adolescents stems directly from the presence of repetitive comparison. It is easy to understand that the excessive exposure to diverse groups of individuals who attained a multitude of achievements reinforces other’s negative way of thinking, in other words, enhances a sense of inferiority. This phenomenon, if left unresolved for extended period, is likely to lead to countless psychological ailments such as anxiety, depression or even more insidious anti-hero behaviours related to mentality like self-destructive or self-isolation behaviours. This means that their relationships will be affected adversely grually, alongside the deterioration in their academic performance provided that their metal health is out of control.
On the other hand, peer pressure can act as a crucial vehicle for academic motivation. Witnessing the success of classmates who excel in many aspects through hardwork can evoke a sense of admiration, inspiring them to attain a similar achievements. If they emulate those patterns for long, they will have more chance to adopt a healthier lifestyle and acquire positive virtues namely self-discipline or punctuality, ultimately leading to a holistic development of youngsters. Moreover, collective aspirations and goals can help teenagers establish some meaningful rapports. For example, with regard to education, if underachieving students desire a better results with the support of others, high-performing are willing to lend a helping hand notwithstanding the stark disparity in terms of academic competence. This mutual cooperation can do wonders for not only the academic attainment but also more positive friendships when they can create a low-stakes environment without negative evaluation or judgements and cultivate mutual trust and empathy, leading to a wholesome community.
In short, even though peer pressure can do harm to vulnerable teens when it may result in emotional distress and many asocial behaviours, it is unarguably beneficial for youngsters because of the inspiration and motivation it triggers. From my perspective, if teenagers can optimize effectively the merits of social pressure on peers, they tend to develop holistically and attain more achievements in the forseeable fulture.