Tweet

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is still as common today as it was in the 1950s    maybe even more so with the increasing importance attached to music, computer games and fashion. At the start of your teens, you start new schools, experiment with new things and everyone is expected to be clones    all doing the same thing all the time; if you don`t want to be left out or bullied. But then as you get older, attitudes change. Whether you go with peer pressure or not, you still get hassled    just in different ways.

As an indication of peer pressure and individuality, here are some rough guidelines which outline how we develop our identities through the crucial teenage period.

• From the ages of 11    12, full group identity is predominant.

• From the ages of 12    13, full group identity is still at the fore with elements of individual identity creeping in.

• At ages 13    14, we develop stronger personal identities while still holding on to a group identity too.

• At ages 15    16, we have usually carved out our own identities within a group.

• From the age of 17 onwards, we have usually created our own full identity, either in or out of a group.