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Adults tell us to say just say no to peer pressure but sometimes it’s harder than just saying no because we all like to please people for the most part.
Many of us have different experiences with peer pressure on subjects like drinking, drugs or even doing things we are not ready for.
Peer pressure comes in different shapes. Most of the time we don’t know it is truly peer pressure until after because we thought it was just going to be a good time with those kids you call friends. Being young I would say it’s easier to fall into the peer pressure of the people around you.
My worst and longest experience with peer pressure was when I turned off my emotions on how I felt about things I used to love and always smiled as well as at having to learning to stop caring for others. Growing up I was very loving and always kind to people, but I remember these two girls who came to me saying that I needed to stop being so nice and how no one would be my friend if I was always nice. They kept going on and on about how showing my emotions was a bad thing and if I didn’t change myself, people would treat me differently.
Even in middle school I always tried to be nice and show my personality to people and still make friends. In middle school I had a lot of friends but no matter how I acted or treated people, I was that friend that was forgotten about and then would have people come up to me saying I showed too much emotion and I need to change that, reminding me if I was nice and had a good personality, no one would like me.
Now being older and wanting to show people I care and love them, it’s hard because I turned off all those feelings for people and now I’m very insensitive to those around me. I can’t just turn my emotions back on to show them I do want to care for them.
If I had the chance to go back, I would. I would change a lot about how I reacted to the people I called my friends because now I wish I could show people I do care without just saying it because people don’t trust that.
Seeing younger kids the same way I was when I was their age makes me scared they will turn out like me. I just hope that they don’t get run over by their friends for being kind to someone.