HW 1: WHAT STUDIES SHOW?

Our environment is a large factor on our personal being, character and attitude, part of our environment are our peers and friends. In what extent can our peers affect our social and personal aspects of life? What can our friends do that can make a difference in our decision making and in our way of living? And what age group does our peers can directly affect us?

Peer pressure also affects an individual when making his/her decisions in life. I spotted an article in the web that states how peer pressure affects the bright thinking of an individual. This article entitled Peer Pressure Its Influence on Teens and Decision Making from SCHOLASTIC.The article shows how the pressure given by our friends manipulate the minds of an individual.

According to the article What scientific research tells us about peer influence are the following:

• Studies show that there are two main features that seem to distinguish teenagers from adults in their decision making, During early adolescence in particular, teenagers are drawn to the immediate rewards of a potential choice and are less attentive to the possible risks. Second, teenagers in general are still learning to control their impulses, to think ahead, and to resist pressure from others. These skills develop gradually, as a teen’s ability to control his or her behavior gets better throughout adolescence. Thereby showing us the importance of Drug Awareness and Educational Programs as a means of helping our teens make the right decisions for themselves.

• In a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), teen volunteers played a video driving game, either alone or with friends watching. What the researchers discovered was that the number of risks teens took in the driving game more than doubled when their friends were watching as compared to when the teens played the game alone. This outcome indicates that teens may find it more difficult to control impulsive or risky behaviors when their friends are around, or in situations that are emotionally charged.

• As described in the article, “Teens and Decision Making: What Brain Science Reveals”, neural connections that are weak or seldom used are removed during adolescence through a process called synaptic pruning, allowing the brain to redirect precious resources toward more active connections. This means that teens have the potential, through their choices and the behaviors they engage in, to shape their own brain development. Therefore, skill-building activities—such as those physical, learning, and creative endeavors that teens are often encouraged to try through positive peer influence—not only provide stimulating challenges, but can simultaneously build strong pathways in the brain.

I think it is best to learn how peer pressure influences decision making of an individual for us to know if the decisions we make are really the decisions that came from us and not the decision that came only because of the pressure given to us by our peers.

Our peers can pressure us in different ways, pressure to do better, or pressure to do worst. But still, at the end of the day it is US who will decide for ourselves. And keep in mind that we should always do the right thing and we should consider having people to us to do wrong things. The real intelligence must carefully done. Having peer pressure should never grant us defeated to be worst