Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is a social influence exerted on an individual by others in order to get that person to act or believe in a similar way. It is used by a social group, often with the implication that"everybody's doing it." This influence can be negative or positive, with a successful result being a change in a person's behavior.

Teen Peer Pressure: Raising a Peer Pressure-Proof ChildLearn whatkinds of peer pressure teens face, who’s most vulnerable
By Elizabeth HeubeckWebMD Feature

Teen Peer Pressure: What's Being Pushed?
So, just what high-risk behaviors might your adolescent feelpressured to engage in? Plenty, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which periodically conducts surveys on health-risk behaviors among youth. The latest survey resultsindicate that teen peer pressure is real. Many adolescents are engaging in behaviors that place their health at risk -- including cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, illegal drug use and sexualactivity. And in all likelihood, their peers are pushing them to try these behaviors.
Here are some of the survey's findings.
Smoking. By the time adolescents are just 13, one in five has tried smoking.Close to 25% of high school students smoke cigarettes.
Alcohol use. Two-thirds of teens between the ages of 14 and 17 have tried alcohol. Of teen boys who have tried alcohol, 20% did so by the timethey were 12. Episodic, or binge drinking, is also fairly common. Of the adolescents aged 12 to 17, one in four said they'd had five or more drinks consecutively within the past month. Almost a quarterof drinkers aged 16 to 21 admitted to driving after drinking.
Drug use. Slightly more than 25% of adolescents aged 14 to 17 have used illegal drugs. One-third of young adult marijuana users aged 18to 21 started using the drug by the time they turned 14.
Sex. About one in every three kids aged 14 to 15 has had sexual intercourse. Of sexually active teens, almost 30% used no birth control...