Peer pressure is a social challenge behind the children’s smile and laughter. Sometimes, we can lost to know about this phenomenon. They doing these for want to be accepted by the surrounding environment.
Peer Pressure cases that are vulnerable to occur to children
In 2018, there was an elementary school student from Kediri who became the target of bullying by his friends with physical violence for committing an own goal while playing soccer, resulting in a brain infection. There is also an elementary school student who is playing soccer behind his house, suddenly kicked by his friends until the student cries and is short of breath to get up. Not only that, there was an elementary school student with special needs from Depok, there was physical violence from his classmate which started from joking and was not supervised by the teacher. In fact, the most pathetic case was that an elementary school child from Singaparna, Tasikmalaya died with a sore throat and could not eat, due to a traumatic event that happened to him, namely being asked to do sexual behavior with one of animal by his friends.
Seeing this incident, what is the meaning of peer pressure?
Lotar & Kamenov (2013) say, is a feeling that is influenced by encouragement or pressure from peers to do unexpected activities with the aim of being accepted in their social group. According to Bin-Bin Chen, peer pressure exists because of human awareness of the importance of groups in social life. A child is introduced to life outside the home through two processes, introduce groups and learning to understand the culture of a group. Peers can also influence a person’s attitudes, conversations, interests, appearance and behavior, so that if you are not careful, it will have positive and negative impacts on someone.
Peer Pressure also has several types and forms. According to Temesgen (2015), there are two types of peer pressure, namely positive and negative. Peer pressure positively encourages individuals to actualize themselves to be better people, especially responsibility and personality formation. Meanwhile, negative peer pressure is having the nature of seeking temporary satisfaction and not being responsible for all existing decisions, so that they do something outside the prevailing norms. Kupersmidt and DeRosier (2007) say, negative forms of peer pressure are maladaptive behaviors, such as truancy, stealing, cheating, and behaviors that are not in line with norms and rules.
Prahbakar (2012) said that peer pressure is carried out in two forms, namely direct and indirect. If done directly, someone will get pressure from peers to do something. Meanwhile, indirect peer pressure does not have signs of being pressured, but action. For example, being shunned by peers for no apparent reason is due to having different behavior from other people.
Why peer pressure could be happen?
Brown, Clasen, and Eicher (1985) state that there are several aspects that can lead to peer pressure, namely the emergence of feelings that are influenced by pressure to be involved in school activities, friendship groups to being asked to conform to members, to activities and behavior that violate . Peer pressure can also occur when there are several influencing factors, such as a sense of openness to others, the role of peer pressure, opportunities to exert influence, and having close relationships with certain people.
What is the impact of someone who is exposed to peer pressure?
If you look at the description above, there are positive and negative sides that will be obtained when experiencing peer pressure. Some of the possibilities that can be felt are getting advice, support for trying new things, friendships to increase self-esteem, opportunities for new experiences, role models, and as an exercise in social skills. However, the phenomenon of peer pressure will disappear when a person experiences anxiety, depression, distance and arguments with friends or family, disturbances to focus on education, pressure to do risky things, rapidly changing behavior, disturbances in understanding the concept of self-esteem and self-confidence, and the feeling of unhappiness that occurs simultaneously in a person’s desire to be accepted by the group.
What should a person do when experiencing peer pressure?
Reporting from verywellfamily.com, there are several ways a person can deal with peer pressure. A person can plan the best way to deal with peer pressure for himself. Then, learn to resist something you don’t want to do. After that, build friendships with the right people, as well as adults who support each other.
Then, what is our role as adults to our children when experiencing peer pressure?
Our job as adults is to guide children in understanding how to deal with peer pressure. We can start to discuss calmly and listen to the child’s answers well to tell stories about their experiences. Then, the following is education about good friendships, training children to become independent people, and having the courage to say no. If the child already knows the risky behaviors that the child is paying attention to, teach about the types and impacts of these behaviors. In addition, do role-play activities with children about peer pressure in order to train children to be more resilient in dealing with these events.
