Peer Pressure and Decision Making
Gary Block Sarah Motzko
Professional School
Counselor
MSUM Intern 2000/01
Osseo Senior High School
Osseo Senior High School
Osseo, Minnesota
Osseo,
Minnesota
Description of the Lesson(s) or Program
The following guidance
lessons include activities from two different resources and can be used for more
than one lesson on peer pressure and decision making.
The first activity – “Pressure, Pressure, and More Pressure” is one
out of a series of lessons on decision making and dealing with peer pressure
from an activity book called Large Group Guidance Activities: A K-12
Sourcebook by Joe Wittmer and Diane W. Thomson .
The second activity involving a decision-making worksheet and
role-playing, comes from a book called Skills for Living: Group Counseling
Activities for Young Adolescents. These two guidance lessons can be
incorporated into classroom curriculum or used to meet a specific classroom
need. The lessons described below
are geared primarily to students in upper elementary school and junior high;
however suggestions for how the activities could be adapted to younger children
have been included at the end of each lesson.
The purpose of these guidance lessons is to help students understand the
effects of peer pressure on decision-making.
Lesson #1:
Time:
This lesson was designed for a 45-50 minute time period.
Materials:
The materials needed for this lesson include several copies of the
“Pressure Seat Situations” (See below).
You will want to select five situations for each group.
Begin by saying:
All of us are faced with situations when our friends or acquaintances
invite us to do whatever they are doing. Some
of these things are good for us and some can be harmful to us.
We all want to have friends. We
sometimes feel pressure to join the crowd and to do whatever they are doing.
Next, divide the
students into groups of five and say “Let’s play a game called ‘Pressure
Seat.’” Select one student in
each group to choose a pressure seat situation of the five given to each group.
The student will read the situation aloud and respond in one minute.
The group will discuss the situation and tell if they agree or disagree
with the decision made by the student. The
student in the pressure seat then chooses another to take his or her place.
This student selects from the remaining four situations given to the
group and so on until each member of the group has been in the pressure seat.
Processing Activity: The activity concludes with a discussion with the entire class. Questions might include: How do you feel about the decisions you made? What are some of the factors you considered in making your decision? Some examples may be: peer pressure, consequences, and so forth. Peer pressure is part of everyday life. Being aware of the effects of peer pressure will help you make better decisions. Be aware of the effects peer pressure has on your daily decisions.
“Pressure Seat Situations”
· You are on your way home from school. Your best friend shows you a pack of cigarettes and says, “Let’s go over behind the building and smoke one.” What would you do? Why?
· You are at school taking a test. The person sitting next to you is cheating and offers the test answers to you. What would you do? Why?
· Three people in your room are wearing the most popular brand of athletic shoe. You really would like to have a pair and think your friends are cool. Your mother tells you she does not have the money to buy a pair. What would you do? Why?
· You are at your friend’s house on Saturday. Your friend shows you a marijuana joint and tries to get you to smoke with him. What would you do? Why?
· Your friends decide they are mad at the teacher and are not going to study for the social studies test. They also are not going to do homework for the rest of the year. What would you do? Why?
· You are going to the store for your mother and you see two of your older friends hanging around the store. They try to get you to steal a bag of chips for them and promise you a ride on their motorcycle in return. What would you do? Why?
· It is after dark and you are still playing outside. Some of your friends decide it would be fun to throw rocks at some cars. They want you to come along. What would you do? Why?
· You’ve learned that another student has brought a gun to school. What would you do? Why?
· You are home alone. Your mother has told you not to leave the house while she is gone. Your friend calls and wants you to come over and tells you that your mother will never know. What would you do? Why?
· You have permission to go skating with a friend. You are to be home by 9:00 pm. Your friend decides to go next door for a hamburger after skating and wants you to go along. You realize that if you go along, you’ll be late getting home. What would you do? Why?
· Your friend is passing notes in class which say ugly things about a classmate. Someone gives the note to you. What would you do? Why?
· Several of your friends are wearing makeup. Your parents think you are too young to wear makeup. What would you do? Why?
· Some of your friends have dyed their hair in a punk style. You really don’t think it looks good, but would really like to feel more a part of the group. Your parents do not approve of punk hair styles. What would you do? Why?
· You are invited to a friend’s house for a party. You get there and realize your friend’s parents are not there. Your friend is drinking beer and offers you some. What do you do? Why?
· One of the students in your room (classmates) tells you that if you don’t want to get beaten up after school, you had better give him your lunch money. What would you do? Why?
* Suggestions for Use with Younger Children:
This lesson/activity can
be adapted to use with early elementary children by changing some of the
“Pressure Seat Situations” to reflect situations or behaviors more typical
of younger children
Lesson #2:
Time: This
lesson has been designed for a 45-50 minute time period.
Materials:
The materials needed for this lesson are a decision-making worksheet (see
below), and index cards.
The focus of this lesson
is on coping with peer pressure. The goals include: 1) Giving students a chance
to discuss different kinds of peer pressure, 2) Illustrating how peer pressure
relates to school performance, 3) Allowing students to practice saying no and/or
leaving situations in which they are being pressured.
Process:
Discuss students’ experiences in using the decision-making worksheet,
using the following questions.
·
How did your decision-making plan
work out?
·
What do you think you could have
done differently?
·
How do you think you could use
this decision-making process in the future?
Activity:
·
Explain that learning to say no
is an important skill to use in avoiding peer pressure.
Invite students to generate some examples of situations in which they
feel pressured. These might involve
the use of drugs or alcohol, rule breaking or illegal activities, demands for
certain types of behavior, and so forth.
·
Brainstorm ways to say no.
For example:
-
Look directly at the person and say, “No” or “No, thanks.”
-
Laugh and say, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
-
Say, “No way,” then turn and walk away without looking back.
-
Say, “That’s not for me.”
-
Say, “I’m sorry, I won’t do that.”
-
If a person persists, repeat any of the above exactly (broken-record
technique).
-
If someone heckles you, look straight ahead and walk away.
(Look forward, not up or down. This
gives the message that you mean what you say, won’t change your mind, and
don’t feel bad about saying no.)
·
Point out that a good deal of
peer pressure can surround school performance, and that it is important for
students to be able to stand up for themselves and resist this pressure.
Ask students to pair up, then give each pair an index card on which you
have written one of the following role-play situations.
-
Your friend asks you to give her
your homework to copy.
-
Your older sister/brother wants
you to use her/his science project as your own so you will have extra time to
hang out and do fun things.
-
Some kids at school ask you to go
to the shopping mall with them, but you have extra homework to do tonight.
-
The most popular girl at school
asks you if you will steal a copy of the test on the teacher’s desk and give
it to her.
-
A kid at lunch says that he will
rip up your school folder if you don’t give him five dollars.
-
Your best friend asks you to
study with her, but you know that when you study together time gets wasted and
no studying gets done.
-
Your three best friends ask you
to skip class and goof off.
-
Your friend asks you to help play
a mean joke on one of your teachers.
·
Instruct pairs to choose who will
play which role and together devise a way to say no to the request.
After a few minutes, reassemble the group and have pairs perform their
role-plays. Discuss whether or not
students feel the responses will be effective, allowing everyone a chance to
participate. Emphasize the idea
that it is often difficult to say no under pressure.
Conclusion:
Discuss the
following questions:
-
What did you learn about saying no?
-
What did you learn about peer pressure?
-
Do you think saying no in the ways illustrated would work for you?
·
Ask whether students would be
willing to try saying no sometime between now and the next time class meets.
What kind of situations do they anticipate?
Decision-Making Worksheet
Instructions: Write down your decision
statement, the two choices in your decision, and the possible risks and benefits
for each choice. Then write down
your final decision and your reasons behind it.
Decision Statement________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Choice
#1 _______________________________________________________________________
Risks Benefits
________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
Choice
#2________________________________________________________________________
Risks Benefits
_________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
_________________________________ ________________________________
Consequences
Choice
#1________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Choice
#2________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
My Decision_____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
*Suggestion for Use with Younger Children:
Instead of having
students fill out a decision-making worksheet, older students or staff members
could act out skits depicting various peer group situations.
For example, Suzie says to Mary “Let’s not invite Sally to play with
us at recess.” The counselor says
“freeze frame” and the actors freeze. Students
are then asked to raise their hand and share how they think Mary should respond
and why. Scenarios that involve name calling, teasing, bullying, etc.
could be demonstrated and used in a freeze frame. The counselor could talk about what a particular character
did to not let someone else pressure him/her.
In each of the scenarios, children should be asked to think about what
responses the characters could have and what the outcome might be depending on
the choices they make.
A brief discussion could
follow on the importance of thinking through decisions and not giving in to peer
pressure.
Connections
to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains
The two guidance lessons
on peer pressure emphasize the importance of developing skills and confidence to
make independent decisions and to not give in to peer pressure.
The identified developmental domains addressed in these guidance lessons
are personal/social and educational development.
Based on the Minnesota School Counselors’ Model of Developmental
Guidance and Counseling, these lessons tie into the learner outcomes
at the elementary and junior high levels in the area of developing decision
making skills. In relation to the
graduation standards, both guidance activities apply to area eight (decision
making) of the ten learning areas of the high standards Profile of Learning for
the state of Minnesota. In both
lessons students are given the opportunity to practice identifying choices and
decisions that they will have to make independently in the context of school,
home, and friend’s homes as well as to understand and participate in
activities that promote healthy behavior and safety.
The “Pressure Seat
Situation” activity used in the first lesson provides students with the
opportunity to apply their decision making process to various peer pressure
situations and to think about how their responses differ from their peers’
responses. In addition, students
have the chance to discuss consequences involved in choosing to act one way over
another. These lessons encourage
young people to think about what needs to be considered when making a decision
and the outcome of responding a certain way (e.g., how decisions affect us and
our relationships with others).
The decision-making
worksheet used in the second lesson helps students reflect on the effectiveness
of their decision making process and what changes they might make next time they
are in a particular situation. The
role-playing exercise gives students a chance to learn specific responses for
standing up to peer pressure. This
guidance lesson as well as the one mentioned above are
designed to help students increase their skills in decision making and
coping with peer pressure.
References and Resources
Wittmer, J., &
Thompson, D. (2000). Large Group
Guidance Activities: A K-12 Sourcebook. Minneapolis,
MN: Educational Media Corporation.
Morganett, R. (1990).
Skills for Living: Group Counseling Activities for Young Adolescents.
Vol. 1. Research Press.
Rief, J.M, &
Enestvedt, J.K. (1993). The
Minnesota School Counselors’ Model of Developmental Guidance and
Counseling. Minnesota School
Counselors’ Association.
Minnesota Department of
Children, Families, and Learning: Minnesota
Profile of Learning Content Standard – Decision Making: Individual/Community
Health.