Peer Pressure

Peer pressure has been a problem for a long time, but now with the addition of social media peer pressure has more opportunities to arise amongst teenagers. With the need of teenagers knowing they are accepted with their peers they go to social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook seeking”likes” which show popularity when compared with peers. Social media brings negative peer pressures such as sexting and positive peer pressures such as coming out but most people are still not aware of peer pressure existing on social medias.

Firstly, with 75% of teenagers in America having a Facebook profile it opens many doors for peer pressure to become a problem. One of the more common issues is getting pressured into sending nudes, along with sexting to be seen as ‘popular’. 20% of teenagers admit to sexting in which 56% of the receivers of nudes admit to passing on to their friends which can have consequences of a fine of $60 in some states of America. The result on the individual who sent the nudes can be getting bullied, depression, anxiety and body image issues. Also, future employers who can access Facebook profiles may turn the applicant away because even though it was in the past, it can affect the the other employers opinion of the applicant

Secondly, peer pressure can be a positive with the coming out videos on Youtube having an overwhelming positive response. Peers influence us to take positive risks like that everyday, also in other areas such as achieving to our best efforts at school. According to the survey conducted by Survelum Data Bank, 54% of teenagers agree that peer pressure can be positive. Peer pressure also helps us to aim higher and try harder in order to be just as exceptional as our peers. Most teens would agree they desire a sense of belonging, and for people coming out, Youtube was a helpful platform to achieve this with a positive response from not only peers but people all around the world. Carrie