Influences
An influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. Because adolescents spend a large amount of their time with peers, it is not surprising that they play a highly influential role in adolescents lives. The credibility, authority, power, and influence of peers is greater during adolescence than at any other time in life. The process of socialization occurs in all cultures but, adolescents tend to develop social closeness more towards friends rather than parents.
Most adolescents want to be accepted by their peers. Not everyone feels like they fit in so what happens to most adolescents is they fall into peer pressure or are influenced by their peers. People tend to get sucked into peer pressure because they want to fit in be popular and feel cool. When this happens most of the time kids are very young, naive and, don't know much in life.
During high school and even middle school many kids are influenced to do stuff that they don't want to do like ditching class, drinking, smoking, and defying the rules just so all of their friends and everyone at school considers them to be popular or cool. But what I think is considered being cool or popular is being true to yourself. People don't realize the effects that friends influences can have on them. At times there may be positive influences from other adolescents but for the most part they are negative influence which later leads to consequences from parents or even schools.
I personally am not influenced by my friends for a number of reasons. First off because I have self-resepect. Another reason is because I don't feel like I need to smoke, drink, or do any other stuff I don't want to do to feel cool. I am who I am and I can't and will not change for other people just to fit in. If they don't want to accept me for who I am and how I run my life then they don't deserve to be a part of it. I think it is pretty sad and degrading when...