A young person goes through many age groups before attaining maturity. In each stage, the child experiences challenging conditions, which are significant in determining the future of the youngster. One of the significant reasons behind the fragility of the teenage hood is the inability to make independent decisions and massive influence from the peers. Teenagers need to fit in the standards set by their peers. The definition of terms in this paper will seek to clarify the exact meaning of the words used in the research question such as the teenager, influence, addiction and peer pressure for an improved understanding of the research question. The research question is “How is the teenage addiction in ages 13-16 influenced by peer pressure?”
Definition of Terms
The first term that draws attention to the research question is the teenage addiction. In the usual circumstances, a teenager is a person whose age lies between thirteen and nineteen years (Meley, 2018, p. 20). The cognitive development stages of a child place a teenager in the formal operation stage where he/she becomes conscious of the things and people around. More so, the children experience the changes in their bodies creating much confusion and the need to fit into their teenage groups. However, it is worth noting that the research question indicates that the specific group of interest is between thirteen and sixteen years. The distinction is to avoid an assumption where the reader mistakes the paper to consider children beyond the intended age confusing the research. The second term is the addiction.
Addiction refers to the enslavement of an individual to something, which becomes paramount to his normal functioning. Therefore, teenage addiction relates to the dependence of the young people on specific aspects, which define their lives. However, the question does not specify the substances behind the obsession, which might vary from drugs, alcohol, video games or social media depending on the level of exposure (Sussman et al., 2011, p. 33). As much as addiction can affect any group of persons, the research narrows down the group of interest to persons between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. More so, the research question indicates that the addiction occurs within the period when the child is between the stated ages.
The clarification is essential because it demonstrates that children at the age of twelve years have one more year to get to the required age while those at sixteen are on their last term. Lastly, the term influence indicates the source of the addiction. In this case, peer pressure serves as the source of addiction for the young persons. Peer pressure is the alteration of character by persons of the same group to match that of the majority (Brechwald " Prinstein, 2011, p. 170). For example, if a group smokes bhang, a member who is a non-smoker feels the conviction to smoke the product to fit into the team. Therefore, the change in behavior might lead to addiction where the substance becomes critical for the survival of the influenced person.
Conclusion
The question acknowledges the presence of other sources of addiction but opts to narrow down to peer pressure or influence from persons within the same age group. In defined terms, the research seeks to establish how peer pressure pushes the youngsters between the ages of thirteen and sixteen to addiction to various substances. Various words have different meanings and the definition of terms ensures that the audience understands the exact meaning as intended by the author.
References
Brechwald, W. A., " Prinstein, M. J. (2011). Beyond homophily: A decade of advances in understanding peer influence processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(1), 166-179.
Meley, P. M. (2018). Adolescent legend trips as teenage cultural response: A study of lore in context. Children's Folklore Review, 5-24.
Sussman, S., Lisha, N., " Griffiths, M. (2011). Prevalence of the addictions: a problem of the majority or the minority?. Evaluation " the health professions, 34(1), 3-56.
