by Sarah Arnette

Created on: June 04, 2010

There are several points that must be discussed within the argument that extracurricular activities can help to provide a student with a means of handling peer pressure. The damages and benefits of peer pressure must be determined as well as the benefits of extracurricular activities verse peer pressure avoidance. Each element of the discussion must be evaluated on its own merits and the benefits to the child must be viewed from the view of the child. 

Peer pressure is the influence that an individual's peers place on the individual. This can occur at any age, and is common in adulthood as well as childhood. Peer pressure can be both a positive and a negative influence. Positive peer pressure can push an individual to excel and compete beyond a level that he normally would be able to achieve.

This can help to build his confidence and create a habit of attempting each activity with all of the energy and drive possible. Negative peer pressure can influence and individual, especially children, into acts of aggression, defiance and abuse.

These negative acts of peer pressure work at controlling the individual through the sheer strength of the group and the belittling of the individual.

As previously stated, peer pressure can and does occur at all levels and in all contexts of social interactions. It is vital that a child learns how to handle peer pressure early in his life when the effects of negative peer pressure are less likely to have a far reaching context.

If a child is defiant and aggressive while he is young, he is quick to be taught that this behavior is not acceptable and the behavior diminishes. If the condition is allowed to occur at a later date, the child will be more likely to get into legal trouble and drug or alcohol abuse trouble. 

There are two schools of thought regarding peer pressure handling. There is the ideology that peer pressure should be avoided by children and there is the ideology that the peer pressure should be confronted. Both methods have their merits and both have their disadvantages.

The avoidance of peer pressure gives the child more time in which he can be a child. This means there is less pressure for the child to fit into a group or other to behave in a particular way.

This method however does not provide the child with the experiences with peer pressure that he may need at a later date to handle the pressures. He may find that at a later date he is allowing others to lead him in the direction that they want to go instead of direction that the child was heading.

Confronting peer pressure can be done through the use of extracurricular activities. The types of activities that are used can help to determine the types of pressures that will be exhibited to the child. An extracurricular activity such as a sport will cause peer pressure to go faster and to play harder to be exuded.

Activities such as study groups or acidemic sports league participate can provide the confidence and peer pressure for a child to study harder and learn more. These types of peer pressure are considered positive pressures. 

A child can learn confidence and pressure management through the interaction within the extracurricular activities that build confidence and show the child what skills and talents the child has. This can make the child a more confident adult. The more confident young adult is less likely to be led astray by individuals who do not have his best wishes at heart. This is only learned through the participation of extracurricular activities though.

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