The Influence of Peers on Adolescent Decision-making
Humans are social organisms, and we tend to live together and share ties based on the mandates of our nature and societal makeup. The closer we get to others, the easier it is for us to comprehend them, and the easier it is for them to get to know us (Fiske, 2009).
Importance of Proximity to Peers
It is important to remember that there are a few elements that may influence the decisions made by adolescents. These aspects include their proximity to peers. There is need note that adolescents are at a crucial stage of their lives this stage is characterized by friendship, the discovery, and implementation of new concepts and a massive level of independence compared to what was previously obtainable in their life. Based on this changes adolescence are said to be closer to the peers more than they are to their parents hence it is safe to state that peers have had a greater influence on the daily choices made by an adolescent that their parent. (“Peer pressure & peer influence: teens | Raising Children Network,” 2017). Therefore I am of the opinion that the above statement is true and hence the easy will be developed to in support the above thesis and vital augments and personal life experiences will be provided to support my claim, and at the end, a conclusion will be drawn to the sum of the ideas of the study.
Personal Experiences of Peer Influence
The average adolescent age is between the ages of 10 and 19; stage has been described by social science researchers and behavioral scientist as a period which considerable parental influence is loosened on a child. Therefore this is the stage when adolescents make most of the valuable decisions of their life. For me, at the stage of my life, I began to have a profound sense of self-awareness, I began to ask questions as to what I wanted in life, I began to understand the need to make choices in life. However, most times when I have faced this situation the obvious logical step is to seek the advice of people of my age bracket this is because they are readily available and we share proximity regarding distance. There is need to note their advice goes a long way to shape my final choices and decisions. After providing the above background, there is need to at this juncture look at the specific ways in which my peers have influenced my choices. Growing up as a child I never really had any favorite color; I could wear any color whenever I chose. However, at the age of twelve, I moved to a new school where a met friend who was just about the same age as I was. I noticed my friend had strong love and affiliation for the color blue. Well, at first I never saw it as anything of importance, we just remained friends, and we shared most of our in school and out of school activities together. However, a couple of weeks down the line I realized that I began to develop an interest for color blue and before I could realize what was going on I had a collection of blue clothes and accessories.
There were other times in my life when peer have shaped by daily choices. As an adolescent, most times when I was clueless as to the place to hang out for the weekend, whenever this occurs I seek and get ideas from my friends and most times I find myself going with their suggestions. There were times when I wasn’t sure of what clothes to put on, where to shop, what movies to see etc., their suggestion also in came handy, and in most cases I find myself going on with their proposed ideas. There is need to at the junction point out one cardinal choice I made as a result of peer influence was my college choice. After my high school, I knew I was going to continue with my study in the college. However, I was unsure of what college institution to apply for at that time. My parents had a couple of listed suggestions for me, and even my high school teacher gave me some options. However, I was undecided until I spoke with my childhood friend. After our dissuasion as the college choice, I was determined as to the institution of higher learning in which I will be willing to study.
Conclusion of Peer Influence on Adolescent Decision-making
There is need to conclude by pointing out that parents play a vital role when come to raising up their children. However, as children begin to grow there is the tendency for them to spend lesser time with their parents and more time with their peers. Based on the realities, when there is need to make a daily choice, the suggestions offered by peers comes in handy, and there is higher likelihood that such proposal will form the basis of daily choice we make as adolescents.
References
Fiske, S. T. (2009). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Peer pressure & peer influence: teens | Raising Children Network.
(2017). Raisingchildren.net.au. Retrieved 23 September 2017, from http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/peer_pressure_teenagers.html.
