Peer Pressure: What's Its Future? - Oshi Singh

Picture Courtesy: https://images.app.goo.gl/MuaNBWFQoBKXUt5b7

Thinking about how the human race started has always intrigued me but do you know something that intrigued me even more? 

It's thinking about the future. Will there be flying cars? Will there ever be robot teachers? Will we ever live in an AI-dominated world? Well of course these are all questions that I often think about but how awesome would it be if all of this turned into reality? 

However, this would only be possible if today’s youth or may I say ‘Gen-Z’ is ready to face the future. When I say face, I mean they are in a healthy condition, mentally as well as physically. We were all teenagers once. 

Teenage is the period where a child builds his/her character and it is also the period when everything hits us all at once. We experience a lot of changes. During this time it can be hard to keep up with stuff now be it academically or in any other field. That is when we hear phrases like, ‘You only live once’, ‘You have one life, live it.’ or ‘It’s now or never.’ Phrases like these are what make us want to try something new every day. 

We follow these phrases with blindfolded lyrics and they become our mantras. Not to mention the constant fear of being left out if we don’t do ‘exactly’ what others are doing. Forget if it’s good or bad we have to do it because if we don't we’ll be left out. I believe it is safe for me to say that teenagers undergo a lot of pressure. Doing well under academic pressure, thinking about future pressure, doing co-curricular activity pressure and all this adds up to the pressure of fitting in. 

At this very moment, we get introduced to all kinds of bad stuff. Alcohol, drugs and whatnot! “Try a little bit”, “A little won’t harm you.” Well, trust me that little bit is what harms every single time. Peer pressure has become a growing concern in today’s generation. The day-to-day reduction of “Self-Control” in youngsters is often what takes them on a trip to heaven. 

I strongly believe that a lack of knowledge is like a crossroads with no signal and once learned it is very hard to unlearn. Many youngsters start drinking to become what they think is cool only to realize later in life that they have become addicted. Which in turn takes them on the road of cancer and mental instability. 

The family environment & communication play a considerable amount of role in a child's future. Imagine the life of a child born into a very respectable family. He/She will automatically learn good virtues and how to present himself/herself in public. Although, living in a world with about 8 billion people you can’t guarantee on behalf of everyone but we ‘can’ guarantee for ourselves. 

What if we become a good influence in someone’s life? Their temporary conscience. After all, it is always the little acts of kindness that make a difference. 

So let us all step up and help each other rise. I am sure if we do this we will be living in a developed world instead of a developing one very soon. 

Oshi Singh
IX-C || Gyanshree School 

A cause that is dear to me - Aria Gupta

Parents often make their children study in school and get into a prestigious college so that they become successful. Initially, it might not seem much of an issue, but they pressure children to study in school and ace all exam papers. If the child fails one exam, it’s game over for them. They are probably also judged like this regarding their other skills, such as sports. This can affect youngsters’ mental health and make them feel worthless because they think their parents will never be proud of them even once. They’re also compared to other children like ‘The three - year old living nearby who has supposedly already completed college in IIT and runs a business with his left leg and another business with his right leg’.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.

But you can’t deny that children are compared to other children by their parents. “Why can’t you be like him?” and “Learn something from her” are some statements that can shoot a bullet straight into a child’s mental health. Then they start trying harder than ever to avoid failure at all costs.

We all can agree that failure is inevitable. I don’t need to write an entire paragraph on that, right?

Returning to the topic, it’s okay if a child fails one exam; it doesn’t define their entire life.

Boy: Dad…

Dad: You got your exam results today, right?

Boy: Yes, Dad.

Dad: C’mon, spill it out

Boy: I failed my maths exam 😭!

Dad: WHY DID YOU FAIL? YOUR LIFE IS RUINED NOW!

That is not how life works; your future isn’t something you can determine based on a couple of tests.

To sum it up, the cause that is dear to me is that parents shouldn’t force their children to become Albert Einstein at age 13, which can significantly affect their mental health.

Albert Einstein only said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid.”

Aria Gupta
Grade VIG
Gyanshree School

Flawsome and Fun - Our True Identity - Rishona Chopra

http://www.inyouth.in

Often we find faults in ourselves. In whatever we do, we consider ourselves to be the worst and keep finding spots in our own work; not only that, but we also start judging the work of others and keep finding flaws in it. It is never good to criticize ourselves or anyone, but knowing our mistakes and learning from them is good.

Instead of finding faults and criticizing ourselves, we should look at it with a positive attitude thinking that we shall not make this mistake again. We all make mistakes and learn from them. We must not have a delusion about ourselves. Therefore we are flawsome - have flaws but are yet so awesome!

Sometimes, we try to change ourselves for someone else, we tend to show off and change our look, personality and style just to make friends but that does nothing. It simply pressurizes us. Therefore we should have an open character and know we are flawsome yet fun.

On the other hand, criticizing the work of others is clearly wrong because we need empathy and fairness towards others. We must understand the feelings of others. If we spot any mistake in their work, we mustn't show it to them rudely. But politely point it out with the intention of looking out for them only if they ask for our opinion. We shouldn't misguide them. 

None of us is perfect with no mistakes, but our imperfections make us so perfect!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

Reflection on peer pressure - Aati Pema

How I see peer pressure.

Aati Pema

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

 

Reflection on the topic Peer Pressure - Tenzin Jambey

In the Oxford dictionary, the word "peer " means people of the same age as you, and "pressure" means forcing someone to do certain things or activities.

It feels fun to do things with our friends; we play, study, and spend time with our friends in school and without friends, life would be pretty dull. When we make friends at first, we never know who is nasty or good; only after spending some time do we learn about our friend's personalities and mentality. A good friend will always think and wish for good welfare, but a lousy friend will try to pull you in the wrong direction. Bad friends often put pressure on you to do the activities which they do. 

If I had to tell you how to overcome peer pressure, then I would say we should break our bond with the wrong people or bad friends as we know a bad person always puts pressure on you and will always emphasise on wrong things, but we should first try to change them and if they don't change then we must simply end our bond with them. A good friend would never pressure you and always teach you productive things.

Tenzin Jambey

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Reflection on the topic Peer Pressure - Nishan Karki

At any given point, you can release your most fabulous self. Don't let anyone hold you back. Don't let anyone dilute you. Don't be peer pressured into being less than you are. - Steve Maraboli

Reading The Art Of Focus at the Sunday School.

Peer pressure means a strong influence on a person by another person's behaviour and specific actions. It makes a person behave the same as the other, although the behaviour of the other may not be good. It is one of the significant problems of youth and societies. The primary source of peer pressure on students is their friends. A lousy friend may encourage his friend to fight, smoke, take drugs, smuggle, etc. These evil actions cause peer pressure on people.

The effects of peer pressure are:-
• Peer pressure hampers day to day life of people and creates hurdles in their lives.
• It can cause depression in case of performance of serious actions
• It creates a distraction from good works
• It leads to a change in the behaviour and attitude of people.

There are many measures to reduce peer pressure. Some of them are:-

• Avoiding fights and other serious actions
• Hanging around less with friends
• Making a reliable friend
• Concentrating more on self-work
• We should say no to bad things and yes to good.

- Nishan Karki

What is peer pressure and how can we deal with it? - Rishona Chopra

Peer pressure is the pressure we face from our peers to do something. It indirectly or directly affects us. Often we find ourselves pretending to fit in the crowd, so we start doing things and becoming people we are not. We lose our own identity just to make 'friends'. But friends who force you to do something or friends who you cannot be yourself around aren't really friends, are they?

Each of us has our own identity, which we are given for a reason because we all are unique, we put on a different persona, and it affects no one but us.  

Being with the right company matters a lot. One ripe apple kept with ten other rotten apples will soon rot too. It is better to be alone than with bad friends. 

Dealing with peer pressure, though, is quite a challenge. Often people try to bully us by telling us that we are 'not cool' and 'boring'. But we must remember that the right path is often alone, but being alone doesn't mean we must be lonely. Ignoring people like that is the best way. We need to have a calm and composed mind that knows what is right and wrong. We do what we do, and pressuring someone needs to be corrected. 

When we start ignoring all of this, people start bothering us because peer pressure that makes you do bad things is just to trouble you or force you towards the wrong path. 

While dealing with peer pressure, we might think, "everyone is doing this", or "what could be wrong with this?" but something correct is not what the majority does. People around us may TRY to have a strong influence on us but we have to be that one person who stands on the right path, whether alone or not. Their TRY must be a left a try only and be in vain. 

Because of peer pressure, we start feeling insecure about our own selves and doubting ourselves. All our choices and decisions seem to be made by others and their opinions, but it is OUR life, OUR choices, and they cannot be changed. People may give us good advice that we should always lend an ear to, but then again, there has to be a straight line between right and wrong, people you trust and don't. 

We may need friends at this age, even if that means pretending to do things they don't. It feels terrible when you have no one to sit with you, talk to you and a person you can share your thoughts with, but it's hard to find someone like that, with who you can be yourself ( apart from your parents, of course)!

Sometimes, I am in the impact of my peers. I know what they might be doing is wrong, but I just pretend to do what they do just so I can get along with them, but then you have to remember that you have higher goals in life. You have higher aspirations than pretending or changing yourself to make friends. 

Instead of finding company outside, we can be our own friends! No one knows us better than we do, and no one ever can! 

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

Friendship - Anvesha Rana

In this ever-evolving world, it is necessary to connect with people instantly, attain quick social skills and make friends at go. A person we may have met only once is also referred to as a friend; today, we all confuse friendship with acquaintanceship. An acquaintance is not mandatory to be a friend, but connections to reach higher posts and avail help at times of need are overrated than the subtle, sweet friendships which have vanished over time. 

Friendships come with conditions; they are no longer selfless relationships but a medium to take benefit of the other. We have turned our Friendships into obligations and formalities. How many of us are honest with our friends? We are too fake to show our real identity behind this mask of coolness. Friendships come with a lot of terms and conditions. We can no longer express ourselves freely, even with our “Besties”. 

There is an invisible ice between us, pleading to be broken, but our ego hinders us from shattering our prison. We can never be happy if we are not who we are. This era of jealousy and cutthroat competition is never ending and only increases as we grow up. 

True friends are only made when we are young when we do not pay heed to how someone looks, what clothes they wear, how they talk or whether they match our standards. As we grow, we look away from the beauty within and shift our focus to physical appearance or social stature. Looking at material things gets nowhere. 

We are not our true selves when we step out into the world; consequently, we feel the heat of the competition that this system has forced us under. We are not ready to leave this rat race and sit at the side bench to relax and rejoice in life. The illusion of success has blindfolded us in thick wraps to such an extent that terms and conditions apply in each relationship. The moment we see our friend doing better than us in any field, we are instantly jealous instead of happy for our pal. 

A famous story, ‘ The Frogs in the Well’, tells about a group of frogs living in a small well. None of the frogs ever get out of this well because as soon as one frog jumps up, all the others jump up on him and pull him down. Thus no frog can ever escape. So is the case with us. When we see a dear one doing good, we attempt all tricks, measures and strategies to somehow stop him. 

Friendship should be selfless and ever-flowing with Love and care. It should be about acceptance and forgiveness and not be built upon social norms but on the foundation of Love. 

Anvesha Rana 

Grade 11

Gyanshree School NB: I have used Love as a value, thus the capital letter.

What is peer pressure, and how can we deal with it? - Shambhavi Nautiyal

Reading Chapter 43, Sunday the 26th of March 2023

Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence of our peers which tells us that we need to act in a certain way like the people surrounding us. It is often observed in teenage but continues as an existing matter throughout our lives regardless of age. It is a trap which makes people victims of many addicting and harmful practices. It could be wrong personality traits such as people pleasing and sometimes ruinous activities like smoking and drugs. 

It starts with compellingly curious intentions of just wanting to fit in, make friends and enjoy company, but later on, it becomes a habit. For instance, something often seen in the present youth is the following of the perpetually changing Instagram trends by young school-going teenagers to feel accepted and admired. 

We see kids going out of their way to follow social media trends and become famous because of peer pressure and the fact that this is seen as the definition of likeable and "cool". In school, too, we see popular girls and students liked by most of our peers or teachers, and we try to become like them. We observe that because of some of their habits, many people appreciate and admire them. To gain that popularity, we try to procure their idolized external features, skills or behaviours. In light of this fact, in this process, we lose ourselves. We lose our own identities. 

We never learn to love ourselves since we are compared to others by ourselves or our parents to our peers. We become even lonelier because of masking ourselves and never focusing on nurturing ourselves. We are left with no friends of our own, not even ourselves. Even when we stop trying to be like others, we still take that habit of people pleasing with us, in which we let people cross our boundaries and put them before ourselves, creating a frail sense of self-worth. However, we can fight it, come out of it and fix this whole scenario. 

As for me, I had been in some influencing company, and over time, I noticed that I had become a people pleaser and that I had been neglecting myself for my peers. I was listening more to them rather than my piece of mind. So, to fix those habits, I had to release that person from my life and start instilling healthier relationship patterns in my attitude. I had to change my outlook by changing my behaviour and thoughts. I had to make it clear to myself that it was okay for me to put myself and think about myself first before taking any decision instead of following my friends blindly and speculating about their behaviours, meaning how they treat me. I had to fix my sense of self-worth. 

So it is salient to love ourselves so that we don't compare ourselves to others and don't let others' judgements affect us, which calls out for having a deep sense of self-worth. We should practice self-compassion and not let ourselves get trapped in the vicious trap of peer pressure cause each one of us deserves to be loved, adored and treated like the queens and kings we are. So before judging yourself after seeing someone else, remind yourself of and be grateful for how confounding, worthy and attractive you are.

Always keep that in mind before wandering to search for love outside; look inside, and you will find the person who has always been and shall always be ready to love you.

Shambhavi Nautiyal Ahlcon Public School

Today Is The Day When You Define For Yourself - Rishona Chopra

Decision making and trusting our inner voice is indeed an art. The actual counsellor we have is our inner voice, our soul that understands our feelings and situation better than anyone. 

Making decisions and choosing the right path is essential. It is better to choose a lonely path rather than a crowded path. Even as a child, when you try to stay on the right way, you feel the peer pressure, and due to that, you cannot make the right decisions. It's better to have one good friend than a group of bad friends. 

Therefore it's better to go along the road less travelled. It means that we should not get influenced by others on the wrong path but should always trust our voice because it knows it all and protects us.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Handling Pressure - Anusha Jain

Anusha Jain, IX, Ahlcon Public School
I am very fond of reading, and Harry
Potter is my favourite series.

Reflecting on Chapter 4, HandlingPressuree from the book Is Your Child Ready To Face The World? by Dr Anupam Sibal.

HANDLING PRESSURE 

It’s no pressure. It’s a responsibility we put it on ourselves

-Abby Wambach    

Wambach’s quote describes pressure in my life. My parents are very understanding and supportive. They never forced me to score good marks or burn myself for winning. But, I always tried to excel and made them proud. If I failed, which I did many times, I would get upset. I don’t remember that my parents ever hit or scolded me for not securing full marks. ‘‘Better luck next time!’’ they would say.

For instance, even after working very hard, I had done terribly wrong in an exam. I cried and was disappointed. My mother gave me her comforting smile and encouraged me to try next time. This has taught me that if we don’t put unnecessaPressureure on children, they will take responsibility and give their best.

Find Your Calling - Rishona Chopra

Based on the chapter Find Your Calling from Is your child ready to face the world by Dr Anupam Sibal.

We all are here to play our part. We are born to discover, create and learn. We are born to dream, but

we must not choose it under pressure to turn to our profession. We must stick to our true calling.

People might say even our parents might say, “ Be a doctor.” But you actually want to be an engineer. 

When people don’t do what they want to do, they are not happy and might fail too! 

Everybody takes time to decide some at high school others at a very young age, but we must choose

our true calling...

Now I’d like to present a story..(not a true story but can be)

                                        Choosing my calling  

I was pressured to be an engineer as the growing technology amazed people as a child. 

I wasn’t really interested in technology. I wanted to save lives and be a doctor. Although this made

people impressed, my parents said, “ For years, people have been engineers in the family, and we need

this to continue.”

I knew being an engineer would not make me happy at all, and that was not my calling. 

That night, I told my parents that I genuinely wanted to be a doctor that helps people more; screens damage

eyes and I could cure that. Listening to that, I thought my parents felt proud and disappointed

at the same time, but they supported me!

Now I am a successful neurosurgeon! Imagine if I didn’t choose my calling would I be happy? 

I don’t think so.

Although we might be pressured, we must choose what really makes us happy.

Rishona Chopra

Grade V

Gyanshree School

Handling pressure - Rishona Chopra

Based on the chapter handling pressure, from Is Your Child Ready to face the world by Dr Anupam Sibal.

Often we are under pressure, where we feel we are not enough, but that is, of course, not true. We must know that we are what we believe, and that is why we should believe in ourselves. 

Take the example of Dr Ben Carson-

Dr Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon and a master at handling pressure. We all agree that the stress of saving a life is the highest. Dr Carson is an expert at separating twins, a difficult challenge. Along with that, he also is a genius at controlling anger. Even if his team doesn’t cooperate, he hardly loses his temper.

Handling pressure is difficult, but we must have faith and belief in ourselves, and that is the key.

Rishona Chopra
Grade V

Gyanshree School