Helping Adolescents Deal

with Peer Pressure

Contents

Peer Pressure
Tips for Educators and Related Staff
Positive vs. Negative Peer Pressure
How to identify a troubled child
Warning signs

Strategies to Help Children

Skill building activities
Communication
How to Say No

*Actual programs to implement in schools?

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Pressures
Transition into middle school and becoming a
teenager can be very challenging for children.
Some changes include added pressures from
friends and peers.
Pressures are a normal part of life and children
need guidance from their teachers, parents and
other adults so that they are able to handle these
pressures in a positive way.
Some of these pressures may be drugs, truancy,
sex, shop-lifting, bullying, cheating, and any other
action that a child may not want to do.
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What you can do?

Make students aware of some of the pressures
they may encounter
Demonstrate the difference between positive
and negative peer pressure
Provide suggestions and strategies to help
children deal with peer pressure

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Positive vs. Negative Peer Pressure

Negative Peer
Pressure-

Is often dangerous and

against
school rules, home rules and
personal values.

Skipping school
Vandalizing
Smoking
Sneaking out of the house
Bullying
Disrespecting authority
Sex

Positive Peer
PressureIs often overlooked but does
exist
and may be described as an
influence to do what is right.

Studying
Volunteering
Befriending someone
Community Service
Joining a sports team
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Identifying Students
Traits putting students at a higher risk of falling to peer
pressure

Low self esteem

Lack of confidence
Uncertainty about ones place within a given peer group
No personal interests exclusive of one's peer group
Feeling isolated from peers and/or family
Lack of direction in life
Depression
Eating disorders
Poor academic abilities or performance

Retrieved on January 3rd, 2007 from

http://teenadvice.about.com/cs/peerpressure/a/blpeerpressure.htm

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Helping Children Deal with

Peer Pressure
Steps children can follow when confronted with peer pressure:

Ask Questions
Why would we do that ?, Whose idea was this ?, Is this a smart
thing to do ?

Identify the negative behavior or action

Calling her names is just going to start trouble, dont think

smoking is a good idea, It is against school policy to leave the
grounds.

Evaluate the consequences

We will get in trouble, Smoking is not healthy, My parents will

take away my allowance

http://www.new-life.net/parent06.htm
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Steps continued:
Suggest an alternative
Why dont we go to the store after school is over
Leave the situation
If all else fails, remove yourself from the situation. Walk away
and do something else

http://www.new-life.net/parent06.htm

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Positive and Healthy Ways to

Deal with Pressures
Strategies for students to use:
Make a joke and change the subject
Say no and keep saying no
Leave the area
Get help from someone you trust
Suggest a different activity
Hang out with others who share your beliefs

Help students develop decision making skills

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Strategies to help children deal

1.

Relinquish the stereotype of peers as a uniformly

negative influence on youth.

2.

Nurture teenagers' abilities and self-esteem so they can

forge positive peer relationships

3.

Empower parents and educators to help teenagers

pursue and maintain positive peer relationships

4.

Encourage cross-ethnic and "cross-class" peer

interactions and guide teenagers in dealing positively
with cultural diversity and individual differences.
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Strategies to help children deal

5.

Place sensible restraints on part-time teen employment

6.

Support parent education programs for families with

teenagers

7.

Establish intervention programs for preadolescents with

low social skills or aggressive tendencies.

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.darnell/strategies_for_coping_with_peer_pressure
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Bullying

Bullying can become a major problem for some

students and often students are pressured to
involve themselves in these situations
It is important to identify and attempt to rectify
these situations as they interfere with your
students learning and development and potentially
affect the overall functioning of your classroom.
Any child can fall victim to being
bullied and any child has the potential
to be the bully
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Steps towards an action plan for

Bullying
1. Teachers must make it safe for students to report bullying
Students must trust that teachers and administrators will respect the
anonymity of the student who reports information

2. Educators and related staff must be aware of all forms of

bullying. Identifying intentions of bullying are:

There is a power difference

There is a negative intention
The behavior is repeated

3. There must be a clear and effective plan for dealing with the
bully and the victim. Students must know the consequences of
bullying.
Retrieved on February 5th 2007 from: http://www.bullybeware.com/tips.html

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Steps Continued
4. School personnel must know about the different
types of bullies. Some victims are also bullies.
5. An effective tool for dealing with bullying is
utilizing the masses who arent involved in
bullying situations. These students can take a
stand and prevent bullying incidents.

Retrieved on February 5th 2007 from: http://www.bullybeware.com/tips.html

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Possible Signs of Bullying:

Watch for changes in the students behavior:

Unwilling to go to school
Feeling ill in the morning
Withdrawal behavior
Decrement in school performance
Having books or clothing destroyed
Truancy
Stammering
Becoming aggressive or unreasonable

For more information go to:

http://csmh.umaryland.edu/resources.html/resource_packets/download_files/bullying_2002.pdf
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What can you do to help?

Model pro-social behavioral that asserts self-worth of
each individual student
Actively observe student behavior in the classroom
Speak with parents to see if additional stressors at home
contribute to the bullying dynamic
Include discussions of conflict-resolution in your lesson
plan

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What can you do?

Ask school clinicians to present on consequences
of bullying
Become familiar with the bulling prevention
curriculum in the school
If there isnt one, start incorporating bullying curriculum in your
lesson plans including knowledge, attitudes, and skill
development pertaining to bullying

Role play in the classroom to help students

develop refusal skills
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What can you do?

Suggest that students stay together and walk in
groups when traveling to and from school and
when outside during recess or lunch
Meet with school administrators and help
develop a bullying policy to implement school
wide.
More information can be obtained from Dr. Ken Rigby at
http://www.education.unisa.edu.au/bullying/

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Tips/Facts to help with Bullying

Understanding why children bully / victimize others
is of key importance in initiating change of this
behavior
Make it known that bullying and victimizing is not
acceptable in your school and must be stopped
Managing bullying requires that the bullying
behavior be firmly admonished and controlled
Counseling is essential and should be compulsory
Retrieved on February 12th 2007 from http://www.bmef.org/bullying.htm, created by
Jenny MacKay of Educational Consultations: Australia Great Britain 1995

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Tips and Facts Continued

Children who bully / victimize need to see themselves
differently, with opportunities to behave differently
The victim also needs to learn to act differently and be
given opportunities to shine and show strength
Bullying and victimization require that the school, the
teacher, the parent, the peers, but most importantly the
child (bully and victim), take responsibility to learn to act
differently
Retrieved on February 12th 2007 from http://www.bmef.org/bullying.htm, created by
Jenny MacKay of Educational Consultations: Australia Great Britain 1995

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Useful Books and Online

Resources
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/
Take Action Against Bullying
www.bullybeware.org
Steps to Respect: A Bully Prevention Program
www.cfchildren.org/str.html
Blueprints for Violence Prevention: Book 9. Bullying Prevention
Program (1999). By D. Olweus, S.Limber, & S.F. Mihalic;
Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/
Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Intervention for Bullying and
Victimization (1996) By Richard J. Hazler
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Resources Continued
How

to Say No and Keep your Friends: Peer Pressure Reversal for

Teens and Pre-Teens (1997). By Sharon Scott

CAFS Teacher Talk Volume 1(3) 1996
http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v3i3/peerpress.html
Preventing Classroom Bullying: What Teachers Can Do (2003).
By Jim Wright
http://jimwrightsonline.com/pdfdocs/bully/bullyBooklet.pdf
Stop Bullying Now!
http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp
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