Peer pressure - Dame Kelly Holmes Trust

Youth club activities Essential resources for youth workers

Peer pressure

Young people encounter different sorts of peer
pressure across a range of settings, so it is important

they are equipped to cope, says Vanessa Rogers

Vanessa Rogers is a youth work trainer, consultant and author. Her books are available from www.nya.org.uk, or Jessica Kingsley Publishers, www.jkp.com.
For training and consultancy, go to www.vanessarogers.co.uk.

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Youth club activities Essential resources for youth workers

Exercise 1 Exercise 2
Exploring Positive and Negative Different Forms of Peer Pressure
Peer Pressure
Aim
Aim
This is a role-play to explore different types of negative peer
This discussion-based activity enables young people to explore pressure and build empathy.
the positive and negative power of groups and peer pressure.
You will need
You will need
• Copies of the role play scenarios
• F lip chart paper and markers
How to do it
How to do it
Start the activity by suggesting that peer pressure can come
Start off by discussing this question: “Are groups just a in many forms. This can include spoken pressure, such as
collection of individuals?” put-downs to make someone feel bad; threatening to end a
friendship; and even reasoning with someone why it is
Invite the young people to reflect on the groups they belong to, acceptable or unacceptable to do something. Alternatively, peer
including friendship groups and families, and pull out the pressure can be unspoken, when nothing is actually said to you,
positive feelings and benefits they get from membership. This but because you see others doing something you feel pressure to
could include love, security and a sense of “belonging”. do the same. Examples of this could be turning away from
someone; whispering and pointing; giving “dirty” looks or
Now move on to ask: leading by good or bad example.
• D o you behave the same way in a group as you do on your
Divide the young people into small groups and hand each a
own? different scenario. Their task is to devise a short role-play based
• Do you behave differently with different groups? around the scenario to explore the different types of peer pressure
experienced by the characters. Allow up to 30 minutes for
Consider the differences in behaviour, for example, between preparations and then invite each group to perform their scene.
being out with friends and at home with parents. Conclude that After each performance call “freeze” and invite the role players
most people are multi-faceted and show different sides of to relax. Then initiate a short discussion that asks the audience:
themselves in different circumstances. Suggest that • What forms of peer pressure did you see?
psychologists’ research suggests people are actually heavily • W hy might someone give in to this peer pressure?
influenced by what they see others doing. And ask the actors:
• H ow did it feel to put pressure on another person?
Discuss in pairs a time when: • W hat feelings can result from being pressured?
• Y ou were swayed to do something positive in a group Encourage the young people to name the feelings that spoken
• Y ou felt pressured to do something you didn’t want to do and unspoken peer pressure can generate.
Conclude by saying that peer pressure evokes a broad range of
Encourage the young people to explore the reasons behind their feelings and is not always negative.
actions and what they hoped to gain or feared to lose by going Positive feelings: pride, importance, justified, belonging, etc.
along with the crowd. Negative feelings: confusion, insecurity, isolation, guilt, etc.

Invite feedback and record ideas under the headings GAIN
and LOSE. So, for example a gain might be peer acceptance or
status, but by following the crowd you may lose self -respect or
the opportunity to stand up for something you believe in.

Explain that the factors that persuade someone to do or not do
something are often referred to as the risk and protective factors
that contribute to peer pressure. While belonging to a group can
create powerful feelings of safety, protection and value, peer
pressure can sway people to engage in less positive behaviour as
well and even get swept along into actions they later regret.

Conclude that while it can be hard to go against the crowd, it is
important to maintain personal values and remain an individual
within a group. Peer pressure, while powerful, should not be
used as an excuse for making negative choices as everyone has
personal responsibility for their decisions and actions, as well as
responsibilities to the groups they are a part of.

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Youth club activities Essential resources for youth workers

Exercise 2: supporting material Scenario 4
Role Play Scenarios Freddie is about to sit his Maths test but hasn’t done any
revision. Scared that he is bound to fail, he tells his friends Tom
Scenario 1 and Delilah. Delilah tells him not to worry; she has worked out
Jade is going out with Jackson, which has made her friend Tilly a system whereby she can give him the answers he needs so
feel jealous as she fancies him too. that he can pass. She assures him her plan is foolproof and that
nothing can go wrong.
Tilly and the other girls are planning a night out and Jade
assumes she will be invited as usual. However, when the girls Frightened of being labelled a cheat, Freddie is unsure
start discussing what they are going to wear Tilly points out what to do. He really wants to pass the test and knows he
that Jade is not welcome as the trip is for “single girls” only. As will disappoint his parents and teachers if he doesn’t do
Jade starts to protest, Tilly encourages the other young women well. He wishes now that he had bothered to revise when he
to back up her statement to exclude her. had the chance.

Scenario 2 Tom laughs at his concerns and tells him that that Delilah
Eden and Marcus are planning a trip to the city but Eden is has already “helped” him in the past and points out that
worried, as he doesn’t have enough money for the train fare. everyone does it. Delilah says she knows that Freddie is good
When Eden tries to explain, Marcus accuses him of letting him at Maths so it isn’t really cheating. Both friends give him plenty
down and making false excuses to get out of it. Despite Eden’s of reasons why they think it’s fine and point out that they
protests, Marcus accuses him of being selfish and angrily says didn’t get caught.
that he is ruining their friendship by making promises he can’t
keep. He reminds Eden that the trip has been planned for ages Scenario 5
and that he has been excited and looking forward to it. Jasmine has been invited to Ayesha’s birthday party. Jasmine
doesn’t know Ayesha that well as they tend to mix with
He points out that if Eden was a real friend he would get hold different social groups, but they do know each other from
of the money somehow, rather than cancel so late, and church, where they usually get on well.
suggests he steals it from his mother.
When Jasmine arrives at the party she goes over to say hello
Scenario 3 to Ayesha, who is among a group of other guests. As she
In class the students are being taught by a student teacher on approaches, Ayesha looks up and smiles her welcome but one
placement. As the bell goes to start the lesson the teacher tells or two of the others notice Jasmine and begin to snigger,
the class to be seated. pointing at her clothes.

Several of the boys ignore her and carry on their One of the young women moves away from the main crowd
conversations. The teacher tells everyone to sit again, this time and makes a big show of looking her up and down, before
a bit louder. Now a large group of girls also begins to talk and rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Several other members
turn their backs to the teacher. Only Rhiannon sits down of the group join in sniggering and nudging their friends to look
quietly while the rest of the class talk, laugh and mess around. at Jasmine as well.

Suddenly, one of the boys loudly asks Rhiannon what she is Finally, someone shouts to Ayesha over the laughter and
doing and within seconds the other students are yelling music: ‘Who on earth invited her?’
“chicken” at her and making clucking noises to show their
disapproval.

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Youth club activities Essential resources for youth workers

Exercise 3 Exercise 3: supporting material
Challenging Peer Pressure Dilemmas

Aim Dilemma 1
You are 18 and your friend wants to borrow your ID to get
This activity offers scenarios for young people to explore served in the pub. You don’t want to lend it to her – the bar
strategies to withstand peer pressure. It promotes assertive person knows you, so you are sure she will get caught. What
behaviour and the right to challenge a friend.
are you going to say?
You will need
Dilemma 2
• The dilemmas cut up and ready to use Your friend keeps borrowing money, which he hasn’t paid
• Flipchart paper and markers back. You can’t afford to do this any more but feel bad as he
has told all of your friends how generous you are. You are
How to do it due to go out tomorrow and know he will ask again. What

Divide the young people into groups of four and hand each are you going to say?
group some paper, a marker and a dilemma.
The task for the group is to discuss the dilemma and agree how Dilemma 3
to resolve the situation so that the character does not give in to Your friend is loudly telling everyone that she doesn’t
peer pressure and makes his or her own decision. believe in sex before marriage. She says that girls “like
Allow five minutes for the young people to discuss the issues, that” end up sleeping around and getting a bad name. You
including what type of peer pressure is taking place and any don’t agree at all, but your friend is looking to you for
likely outcomes of going ahead. They should then agree a
strategy and record it on the paper, taking care to write the support. What can you do?
scenario number next to it.
Call time, swap dilemmas and repeat the exercise. Keep moving Dilemma 4
the scenarios around all of the groups until the young people Your friend has “borrowed” his mum’s car for the night.
have written a suggestion for each.
When all of the dilemmas have been circulated and a strategy You know he only has a provisional licence but he is
written for each, invite feedback. Compare strategies, begging you to get in the car and go for a drive. He tells you
discussing the strengths or areas of weakness in each. Reflect he is a safe driver and promises to take care. What are you
that it can be very difficult to stand up to peer pressure, even
when going along with things is not really what you want to do. going to say?
Move the discussion on to consider the young people’s examples
of peer pressure and how the strategies suggested could be used
in real life.

Dilemma 5
Your friend has had a big argument with someone,
which nearly led to a fight. Now he expects you to get
involved and carry the argument on, regardless of the
consequences. You don’t want to – what can you do?

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