1. Peers and Peer Pressure
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Good Morning/afternoon, my name is (insert name here) and I am pleased to be here with you today! Today we will be discussing peers and peer pressure, which is something that we have all been through. We all know that what others say/do can have a huge influence on us, so today we will learn what is good peer pressure and what is bad peer pressure.
Objectives:
-What is a peer?
-Types of peer pressure.
-making the right choice!

2. PEERS
Someone who is similar to you in age, grade, gender, or other traits.
Friends, classmates, kids in the neighborhood.
What is a peer? A lot of people may think that peers are people who are your friends; peers can be your friends, but they do not have to be your friends to be considered your peer. We are constantly surrounded by our peers everyday!
A peer is someone who has similar characteristics as you do such as gender, age, job etc.
Friends, co-workers and people who live in the same neighborhood as you do are all your peers.

3. PEERS You care about what other people think about you.
Friends are crucial in learning.
#1 influence in your life.
-It is a human trait to care about what others think about you and you want to have people like you and you don’t want to be left out. It is very important that we teach our children about peer pressure. The people that they are friends with are the top influences in their lives, they spend the most time with them and above all, they care what they say/think about them.

4. Peer Pressure
Strong influences from people in a group to make the group members do something.
One of the most difficult aspects of growing up.
Hard to resist.
Easy to persuade.
-Peer pressure is defined as; social pressure by members of one's peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted.
-Basically, it occurs when others; your peers, try to strongly influence you to do something.
-Peer pressure is one of the most difficult aspects of growing up because children need to learn the difference between good peer pressure and bad and know when it is ok to give in and know when to stand their ground.

5. Is all peer pressure negative?
A group of friends are going roller-blading after school. What if………
Positive or Negative
-Friends remind each other to wear their protective pads and helmets.
-One may encourage another to skate on a busy road
-However, it may come to you as a surprise, but not all peer pressure is negative.
-Peer pressure is any kind of persuasion, not just negative.
-In the above example the friend who reminds their peer to wear their helmet is putting positive pressure on their peer. They are trying to keep them safe.
-However, the friend who is telling another to skate along a busy road is using negative peer pressure. Many times negative peer pressure is used to make to make one person feel above another. When someone gives in to their pressure they feel that they have gained power.

6. Peer Pressure: Positive and Negative
Doing homework
Exercise
Playing a game
Making right choices
Negative
Doing drugs
Misbehavior in class
Stealing
Fighting
-We need to teach our children the difference between positive and negative peer pressure. The above examples show what peer pressure is ok to give in to and what is not.
-In teaching your kids about peer pressure, make up scenarios/examples and ask them what they would do in each.

7. Making Choices Right : -thinking it through -being positive Wrong
-acting without thinking
-being negative
-We must always think when making choices. It is when we just act without thinking that we end up getting ourselves into trouble.

8. Learn how to say “NO” Be firm and confident!
Do not appear to be scared.
Make No mean No!
-”NO!” is a very important word.
-Teach your child when to say no and let them know that it is ok not to do everything that people tell you to do.
-Tell them to use their own judgment and be confident when they are saying no.
-Confidence will make the other person see that they can not walk all over this individual and if your child does not act scared or back down then they will not give in to the peer pressure.

9. TEST TIME!
You see a twenty dollar bill laying on the ground and don’t know what to do with it. We are going to be influenced by our peers to determine what choice we are going to make.
-Now what would you do in this situation?

10. FUN TIME
Positive message line: “You should give that to the teacher! Don’t keep it, it’s not yours. How would you feel if you lost your money?”
Negative message line: “Go ahead, take it. Finders keepers, losers-weepers. No one is looking, quick pick it up!”
-Everyone should have said turn it in, but did you?
-Did it cross your mind at all to keep it?
-I’m sure many people would keep it, how are you to know whose money it is? The right thing to do would be to give it in, listen to those around you who ask how would you feel if it was you.
-When trying to make decisions you need to always remember how you would feel if someone did that same thing to you.

11. Peer Pressure How did it feel?
Did you feel pressure to act a certain way?
Which was harder to listen to, the positive or negative peer pressure?
-When you have some people telling you to do one thing and another group telling you to do the exact opposite you can get very confused and frustrated.
-It is always easier to listen to the negative peer pressure especially if you can gain something from it, but the positive side is always the way to go!

12. Points to Remember:
Peer pressure is when someone tries to influence you to do something.
Peer pressure can be positive or negative.
Hard to resist!
Most important thing about peer pressure is that it is any kind of influence, not just bad influence.
Peer pressure is hard to resist, that is why we must teach our children about it early so that they can learn the difference.

13. People who can help: Parents Teachers Principal Counselors
Religious advisors
Police
Telephone hotline
There are many people who can help if your child is in a situation where they don’t know what to do. Everyone is more than willing to help especially if it can keep a child from harm.

14. The End
Thank you so much for coming today! I hope that you have had fun and learned enough information that you can go home and teach your children about right and wrong peer pressure. Let your child know that peer pressure is something they will be faced with on a regular basis, so teaching them early is best.