Throughout high school, many teenagers are affected by trends their friends or classmates may be trying. Many students feel the need to fit in, and the way most teenagers try to fit in is being like others. If a teenager feels different from others around them, they might have the feeling to change the way they act to be more like others. However, peer pressure has very many negative effects on the way teenagers perform in life. 

One of the first ways that peer pressure can affect teenagers is by influencing them to make bad decisions. These bad decisions can be drinking alcohol, smoking, drug-use, or even a negative image of themselves at the moment. All of these behaviors can have a negative impact on their mental health. As teenagers are already balancing school, social lives, sports, and maybe even a job, having behaviors that negatively impact mental health can make growing up and maturing a lot harder than it should be. Mental health is something that many teenagers struggle with on a daily basis, and most teenagers don’t know how to express how they are feeling about it to get help. Teenagers need a positive group of people surrounding them with positive behaviors to help them get through whatever situation they need to each day.

Another way that peer pressure can affect teenagers is by altering their academic performance. If the teenager has a group of friends who all achieve high grades, then the effect of peer pressure might be good in this case. The teenager would want to be like their friends and also achieve high grades. However, if the friends achieve bad grades then the teenager might start achieving bad grades as well. Academic performance could be altered by the bad decisions that were mentioned earlier could cause teenagers to not care as much for the school work they are given during the day. 

If a teenager feels the need to change the way that they act due to the ideas of their friends, then there may be a few things that have changed with them. The teenager’s self-esteem might be getting damaged due to the feeling of not being good enough as their true selves. Having negative effects of peer pressure can cause teenagers to feel dependent on their peers due to wanting their approval all the time. However, if this happens then teenagers feel the need to not be able to go off on their own which can be damaging to their personality and growth in the future. 

In conclusion, peer pressure does have the opportunity to be positive, but in most cases around the world it is found to be negatively affecting teenagers. Peer pressure is a common thing that affects many teenagers each day throughout their lives. Teenagers can try to avoid peer pressure by sticking to what they feel is the right thing to do, and staying true to themselves when they are getting teased about the way they act, talk or do things.