of peer pressure. This topic is one that I feel very strongly about and that I feel is often not given the attention it deserves. The first blog I came across was written by Dr. Catherine King, an associate professor and chair of the psychology department at Elon University. The post was titled, “Surrounded by it: Peer pressure comes in many forms, and parents can help their kids deal with it,” and it offered many helpful tips and insightful advice for parents. After reading King’s post I was inspired to leave a comment in response to her article. The comment I left can be read either on the post itself or directly below. The second blog I stumbled upon is titled “Successful Teaching” and came from Pat Hensley, a teacher of 26 years experience who was given the 2006 Teacher of the Year award in her school district. Hensley’s post was titled, “Use of Peer Pressure” and it focused on teachers using positive peer pressure in their classrooms in an attempt to motivate their students to encourage each other to do better in class. This was also quite an engaging article that left me enthused enough to leave a comment. My comment can be read on the post or directly below. These blogs discuss the same issue but come from completely different perspectives, which I found gave fullness to this topic that I found very appealing.“Surrounded by it: Peer pressure comes in many forms, and parents can help their kids deal with it,” comment:
Dear Ms. King,
I would first like to applaud your post for bringing about awareness on an issue that I feel is often overlooked or down played. Your post was very engaging and I felt you gave some very good advice to parents dealing with the effects of peer pressure on their children. One of the most important points in your post is when you highlight the significance of the home life and the quality of relationships the child has with family and, more specifically, their parents. Children need to bond and if their home life is such that they cannot bond and even may want to escape it, they will find something or someone else to connect and bond with. Many times this leads
good children down destructive paths in which “friends” become the most important relationships in their lives and they are highly susceptible to peer pressure from these so-called “friends.” I firmly believe many of the larger issues in society can be traced back to the home and this is no different. People have often scoffed at the notion and impact of peer pressure however, clearly with events in the media, specials on primetime televisions, and parents witnessing first hand how their child can go from getting straight As and loving school to lying, stealing, and engaging in illegal activities, peer pressure is a substantial issue worthy of our attention. While I found your post insightful, I also must say that I felt the crucial element of the home was glossed over. Perhaps I am a bit biased with my feelings of how vital the home environment is to children and families, but I feel you could have put more of an emphasis on the role of the parents and the family as a whole. However, this in no way detracts from my overall positive opinion and enjoyment of your article. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future.MMR
http://www.psychologicalthinktank.blogspot.com/
“Use of Peer Pressure,” comment:
Dear Pat,
I am compelled to first mention how much I enjoyed your blog. After reading this post on peer pressure, I browsed through your blog and found it very engaging. Your blog highlights issues in the education of children that I find very noteworthy and I am grateful people, like yourself, who are taking time to comment on these critical issues. Too often people in your position, who have the experience and first-hand knowledge, find themselves stretched too thin to take the time and energy to provide insight into issues that plague society as a whole. However, that being said, I must say I felt your post on peer pressure was slightly off target. By this I mean that I agree there is such a thing as positive peer pressure, but I do not believe it is the place of teachers to attempt to impose this on their students.
Positive peer pressure, in my opinion, is a natural evolution among children who feel a competitive camaraderie with one another. Children on sports team who race with their friends to see who is faster or a group of friends who study for a test together and then compare test scores later, these are groups in which the natural path might be for the individuals within these groups to feel the pressure to push themselves to be better. But your post seems to point to a much more artificial form of positive peer pressure, and it is this contrived environment that leads me to conclude this may not be the best way to motivate your class. I believe in positive reinforcement just as much as the next psychology major does, however I cannot shake the feeling that this system you have designed might lead to children being targeted, perhaps even outside of class, for ruining the reward for everyone.This system may in fact be working for your classes; however I feel the pressure put upon children should not come from an authority figure. Imposing rules which are designed to single out the child who failed to complete an assignment for reasons the child will most likely not disclose is setting up a system in which children point fingers and potentially harass others because their rewards is based on the action of others. I also would be remiss not to mention that these reasons could be as simple as the child choosing to play video games instead of completing their homework or as drastic as having an abusive parent and a horrifying home life, and there is no sure way to tell which is which when the child fails to turn in their assignment. My position is that true positive peer pressure comes from within the group of peers and should not be superimposed upon a group, and especially not from an authority figure. I thank you for your post as it was quite compelling and I look forward to reading more from you.
MMR
http://www.psychologicalthinktank.blogspot.com/
3 comments:
Thanks for reading my blog! I also left a response to your comment in my blog. I liked reading yours also and look forward to reading more!
MMR, I always find you posts to be quite interesting as they provide insight to the many problems children face in society. Peer pressure is undoubtedly an important issue with kids because it places them at high-risk for possibly going down the wrong paths, such as alcoholism and gangs. The two articles you chose to comment on where great because one provides the audience ways in which peer pressure can be combated, and the other shows ways in which using positive pressure is used in classroom settings. I liked how you challenged they teacher that wrote “Use of Peer Pressure,” by saying that her post “seems to point to a much more artificial form of positive peer pressure, and it is this contrived environment that leads me to conclude this may not be the best way to motivate your class.” I actually remember some of my teachers back in elementary using the same procedure too, and I often felt it was no fair that the good kids suffered because of the actions of others. Instead the teacher should have provided positive reinforcement to the good children, so that they may maintain their good behavior. Otherwise they may begin to slack off too.
Your links in the first paragraph are great and the pictures you use are colorful and attract attention. However I think the “caution peer pressure” picture could be taken out. The other two are fine. Other than that your blog was great and informative.
First of all I think this topic is a very interesting one, and we don’t often hear both sides of it in our media. I feel that peer pressure is addressed with the negative connotations somewhat in the media, perhaps not enough. But it is definitely more prominent a discussion topic than the positive ways to utilize peer pressure.
I was especially intrigued by your comment in the second blog on the use of positive peer pressure. You argued your opinion eloquently and effectively, which made it a pleasure to read. What is more, you were very respectful in your comments, especially considering that you did not necessarily agree with the author. I am in charge of an after school program at an elementary school, and we actually utilize what this post deems “positive peer pressure”. We have the kids in teams, and when someone pulls a yellow card for bad behavior, their team loses 2 points. Then after that, if they pull a red card, it moves to individual punishment (letter home to parents). In my experiences, I believe it has actually been a very effective tool for classroom management. None of the students want to be the one who loses points for their team, and in this way, the team members keep some of the more rowdy kids in check by reminding them of the consequences if they misbehave. While I also see validity in your argument, and especially agree when you remark, “positive peer pressure…is a natural evolution among children who feel a competitive camaraderie with one another”, I think that there is also a place for it in a more structured environment as well. Your graphics are also well chosen, and my only comment would be to try to incorporate some quotes from the actual articles to enhance your writing even more. Great job covering a stimulating and engaging topic!
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