Dealing with peer pressure

How to spot it and how to say no 🙅‍♀️

Quick summary 📝

1️⃣ Peer pressure is when you feel influenced to act a certain way by friends or people around you

2️⃣ It exists on a scale – from small decisions to stronger pressure that pushes you to break rules

3️⃣ You always have a choice – real friends respect your decisions so trust your judgement 🦋

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Peer pressure is when you feel influenced to act a certain way or do something because of friends or people around you.

It can be spoken (direct), like being dared to do something, or unspoken (indirect), like feeling like you need to follow a certain trend.

How do you know it's peer pressure?

It’s not always easy to spot in real life, so let’s take a few scenarios to figure out what peer pressure looks like...

👉 Choosing a movie: you pick your friend's choice because they’re really excited about it

This is at most low-level peer pressure – as you made your own choice out of generosity

👉 Excluding a friend: others tell you not to invite someone, even though it feels unfair

This looks a lot like peer pressure – it’s not something that you would have chosen on your own, or that you're comfortable with.

👉 Staying out late: you break a parent's rule because your friend convinces you to stay longer

This is a mix – a bit of peer pressure from your friend, which aligns with something you’d quite like to do, even if it’s slightly against the rules

Think of peer pressure like this...

👉 Low-level peer pressure: you choose to compromise on something small, like a movie

👉 Stronger peer pressure: you agree to something that makes you uncomfortable

👉 Rule-breaking pressure: you’re pushed to ignore boundaries or rules

More serious risks do exist

Peer pressure can also involve more serious situations, for example:

👉 Skipping school or breaking rules

👉 Risky behaviour that feels unsafe

How to handle peer pressure

👉 You can say no: you don’t have to agree to anything that doesn’t feel right

👉 Challenge them: ask, "why do we have to do this?" to make them think twice

👉 Think for yourself: just because others do something doesn’t mean you should

Is this a toxic friendship?

If someone pressures you often, they might not be a good friend.

Some people don’t realise how their actions affect others, but repeated pressure can be a sign of a toxic friendship.

In this case, it's best to distance yourself from that person 🦋

What can you take away from this?

Peer pressure comes in many forms, but you always have the right to make your own choices.

A real friend will respect your decisions 🩷 not pressure you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.

Trust yourself – you don’t have to follow the crowd to fit in 🫶