How To Deal With Peer Pressure | Kids Shows

Everyone talks about being themselves and not being a cookie cutter person. I'm not like most girls. I'm independent from social constructs. As if there's some sort of pioneer in the Oregon Trail wilderness. Watch out for dysentery. This sounds good and all, but they're still following the people they admire and respect. It's impossible to escape the influence of people around us. If you have the right peers, this can be a good thing, but bad peers are lurking in every corner of your life, whether it's at school or on your phone screen. So here are four tools to help you deal with peer pressure. Number one, respect yourself. Most people want others to respect them, so you just do what everyone pressures you into doing. That's how you earn respect, right? Wrong. People will not respect someone who's easily pressured into doing things. If you want others to respect you, you gotta start by respecting yourself. Now, this doesn't mean ignoring what everyone else says just to do whatever you want. So Madison, what I need you to work on... Nope! You have to respect me! Unlimited power! That's not self-respect. That's a condition called selfish buttness. It's always good to look for ways to help others, and there's always a place for constructive criticism. Respecting yourself means considering what's best for your own well-being before making decisions you're pressured to make. Hey kid, you want to run the bank? The irony about peer pressure is it really only helps the people pressuring you. But if you respect yourself, you're always going to prioritize what's best for you long term. It's okay to say no. It can actually save your life. Hey son, stick the fork in here. It'll be fun. You are a leader, not a sheep. So don't act like one. Number two, take ownership. All peer pressure does is pressure you to make a decision about something. But your friends cannot make you do anything. It's your decision. And if the decision ultimately belongs to you, then... You are responsible for your actions. Now admittedly, this is easy to ignore. You just think in the back of your mind that if something goes wrong, your friends are going to be there to get your back. I've got news. They won't. They're too busy covering their own backs. Number three, friends come and go. You don't. Sometimes it's easy to think that the friends you have right now are your entire world and things will never change. I know it's a little hard to believe and kind of painful to think about. But you will not be where you are right now forever. You're going to go to a different school. You'll get a different job. You'll move to a different town or country. Your world will be turned upside down. And a whole new set of friends may come along. And they'll probably be upside down too. And those friends of the past will be just that. Friends of the past. That's not to say that you'll never talk to them again. Your paths might cross again someday. But don't ever let them pressure you into doing something you're going to regret later. Hey man, we should go get tattoos. Yeah, what? Yes. Hey guys, I got a tattoo! Decisions can be permanent. Friends usually aren't. Number four, choose your friends carefully. If you run with wolves, eventually you'll start to howl. If you don't want to howl, don't hang with wolves. We can't be friends anymore. Whether you like it or not, the people you spend time with rub off on you. So find friends that inspire you to be better. Be better. I'm not talking about friends who have more followers or fancy things. That doesn't actually make you better. I'm talking about things like honesty, discipline, and respect. Whether you realize it or not, when you surround yourself with these kind of people, you're going to start acting like them. It's not rocket science. And this is how you make peer pressure work in your favor. They'll be pulling you up instead of down. If you're having a hard time finding friends like this, here's an idea. Find older, more mature people. They're usually easy to befriend and have valuable things to share with you. Are you an older, more mature people? Yes. Good. Remember, you're the one that has to live with your decisions for the rest of your life. Don't make bad decisions for anyone. Your life will only be as good as the decisions you make. So make sure your decisions are truly yours. Thank you for watching this how-to video for PragerU. We hope you learned something new. We'll see you next time. Thank you.