Positive Peer Pressure (PPP)

Positive Peer Pressure (PPP)

Believe it or not the concept exists! I hear it every once a while and I’m always pleasantly surprised. What is positive peer pressure? It’s when kids encourage their peers to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing. As a teacher, I especially like to see it happen because kids will often listen to other kids before they will listen to an adult. Adults can come across as stuffy authority figures, far removed from what it’s like to be a teenager. The key to effective PPP is in the delivery. Peers need to get the message across without sounding condescending. So often they may mean well, but their message is lost in their tone. Just today I heard a few of my students encouraging another student to refrain from disruptive behavior. So often, society is quick to point out negative peer pressure that we fail to recognize PPP. Ask yourself this question: Are my friends enabling my self-destructive behavior, or do they have the guts to call me out? Do you have the courage to confront your friends when they are messing up their life? What if you don’t say anything and you later find out that they were seriously hurt or died because you failed to act? No one needs that kind of guilt on their conscience. One thing I have learned from teaching kids is that positivity can be just as contagious as negativity if you give it a chance.

Bullies Beware

Bullies Beware

Bullying is a common phenomenon with kids and adolescents. Statistics reveal that 30% of the youth population in the US has either been bullied or has bullied others. Both males and females are bullies, but studies show that males tend to be more physical in their bullying. Females taunt their victims on their looks or spread nasty rumors, while males hit, slap or push.

Contrary to popular belief, many bullies are not self-loathing cowards, taking out their insecurities on others. Most bullies are kids who are brought up without empathy for others. They feel a need to dominate others, and many learn to be aggressive from their parents. Further studies indicate that bullies are more violent than their peers, and more likely to participate in harmful behaviors such as smoking and drinking.

Bullying can be traumatic and contribute to low self-esteem, anxiousness, and isolating for the victim. It’s important for parents to encourage their kids to stand up against bullies to avoid becoming the victim. Being bullied can result in poor social skills and can affect performance in school. Bullying often takes at schools where there is little or no supervision. Therefore, parents need to ensure that their kids are in a safe environment with strict rules against bullying.

Dusters

Dusters

Huffing, or inhaling substances is common form of drug abuse among kids and teenagers, there are many products that can be bought legally at the local store. Some typical household products teens are using include glue, butane, thinners, paint, and a wide variety of aerosols. Huffing is on the rise according to research and can be deadly. Many teens huff because it does not show up on drug tests. It’s a cheap, two-minute high that causes an intense feeling of euphoria, loss of balance, slurring of speech, and some visual hallucinations.

One particular huffing agent known on the street as a “duster” seems to be broadly in use. Dusters are small aerosol canisters used for cleaning particulate matter and dust off of hard to reach places. Teenagers may ask for them to clean their computer, but they may be using them to get high. Huffing of aerosols can cause immediate damage to the brain and can cause heart failure. Long-term use of inhalants can cause liver and kidney damage. Studies have also shown that inhalants cause memory and hearing loss amongst chronic users. Many users have blackouts, and again, inhalants can be deadly.