Do We Ever Stop Giving in to Peer Pressure??

Because I see hundreds of high school students on a near daily basis, I am amazed at the amount of peer pressure that goes on in a teenager's life. I suppose as one ages, one forgets how it works in high school. I observe my students constantly encouraging questionable behavior in others, which got me thinking about adults and peer pressure.  Seriously, do we ever truly stop dealing with peer pressure?  Yes, it might not be as rampant as it is in high school but adults equally try to pressure peers in a variety of situations.

What brought this query to the forefront of my mind was Scott Bakula. Yes, Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise fame. Yesterday, on my way home from work, I was listening to the Broadway cast album of the 1988 show Romance/Romance. This relatively unknown musical starred Mr. Bakula and every time I either see Scott on television, in a movie or listening to a recording of his singing, I am reminded of a conversation that I had with a friend a good 20-ish years ago. (Yes, I occasionally curse my superb memory, which allows me to remember stupid things like this conversation.) I was discussing Quantum Leap with this friend and how much I liked Mr. Bakula and the show and I distinctly remember my friend's response: "I think he's dull." It's an unimportant statement and yet 20 years later, I still find myself pondering that statement. I keep questioning my friend's response and how I fought back on it.  To this day, I'm not certain if I was fighting to prove my friend wrong or to keep from feeling that perhaps he was correct and I just didn't see it. This friend was someone whom I deeply respected and I was disappointed in his response, but why can't I just accept that he finds Scott Bakula dull and I don't. Was I trying to keep from giving into peer pressure by not agreeing with him? Or was I trying to pressure him into changing over to my viewpoint? Why?

I find myself thinking about these things often. Do I take that last piece of cake because a friend forces it on me or do I just not have any willpower? Have you ever gone out for drinks with friends and/or colleagues and as you are ready to leave, you hear: "Stay and have one more drink."  So you stay. Are you truly staying because you want to or because you are giving into peer pressure? I tell my students daily to avoid giving into peer pressure and yet as an adult who is well into her .... wellllllll ... let's just say that I am a woman of an indeterminate age... I still find myself having to fight against peer pressure.  It's just something that I find interesting.

Yes, as adults, the type of peer pressure we deal with is significantly different and generally harmless as compared to what teenagers have to deal with, but we do still have to fight ... or not fight ... peer pressure. How can we expect better from our youth?

Just for giggles as it has nothing whatsoever to do with peer pressure, below is a video of one of my favorite songs from Romance/Romance - oddly enough not one that Scott sang (it's sung by the wonderful Alison Fraser), but is also part of my list of cathartic songs! Lyrics can be found here.