As you get older, you rely on your friends more for companionship and acceptance. It's nice to be around others who are fun and share similar interests and personality traits as you. Having friends is great, but friends can also influence each other in negative ways. Here's the problem. If your friends accentuate the negative and not the positive traits in their character and encourage you to do the same, they are influencing you in a negative way. This is called negative peer pressure.
Negative peer pressure can come in different forms. For instance, your friend has cigarettes, and offers you one. You say, "No thanks," and he says, "Ah, come on, everybody smokes." Even if he did not directly tell you to smoke, his response can pressure you into thinking you will be an "odd ball" if you don't.
Here is another example: Your friend tells you she is going to shoplift a watch from the mall, and if you are really her friend, you will come with her to be her lookout. In this case, you are being pressured to make a bad choice to keep your friendship. The power of peers to influence the way we think and act should not be underestimated. So ask yourself, how can negative peer pressure affect your character and decide in advance what you will say when approached with any negative request.
With so many immoral influences in today's society, it can be challenging to obtain a moral character. This is where having someone who has a positive character to imitate really helps. Imitating others is something we all do, whether we admit it or not. We all have someone we look up to and admire. As babies, you imitated your parents in how to speak, when to smile, how to eat, and so forth. You developed habits that are now second nature to you.
As you grew older, you became more aware of your environment and others around you. You began to notice things about them that you liked and admired. Someone who you admire and try to emulate (imitate) is called a role model. A role model could be someone your age, an older sibling, other family members, teachers, friends and that's just to name a few. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a role model:
1. Make sure he/she is a moral person. A moral role model must consistently display positive moral character traits. This means you need to look beyond personality. Keep in mind, someone can appear to be a great person but have a negative, immoral character.
2. A positive role model will motivate you to build a moral character. In other words, a positive role model will encourage you to make right choices. A right choice is one where respect is shown in your life and also to the lives of others, ensuring that no one is treated unfairly or harmed.
By becoming a person of integrity, you too can become a role model and influence someone else to obtain a positive moral character. Just think about it, in the same way you admire and emulate others, someone could be admiring and emulating the true values and positive character you demonstrate.
Negative peer pressure can come in different forms. For instance, your friend has cigarettes, and offers you one. You say, "No thanks," and he says, "Ah, come on, everybody smokes." Even if he did not directly tell you to smoke, his response can pressure you into thinking you will be an "odd ball" if you don't.
Here is another example: Your friend tells you she is going to shoplift a watch from the mall, and if you are really her friend, you will come with her to be her lookout. In this case, you are being pressured to make a bad choice to keep your friendship. The power of peers to influence the way we think and act should not be underestimated. So ask yourself, how can negative peer pressure affect your character and decide in advance what you will say when approached with any negative request.
With so many immoral influences in today's society, it can be challenging to obtain a moral character. This is where having someone who has a positive character to imitate really helps. Imitating others is something we all do, whether we admit it or not. We all have someone we look up to and admire. As babies, you imitated your parents in how to speak, when to smile, how to eat, and so forth. You developed habits that are now second nature to you.
As you grew older, you became more aware of your environment and others around you. You began to notice things about them that you liked and admired. Someone who you admire and try to emulate (imitate) is called a role model. A role model could be someone your age, an older sibling, other family members, teachers, friends and that's just to name a few. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a role model:
1. Make sure he/she is a moral person. A moral role model must consistently display positive moral character traits. This means you need to look beyond personality. Keep in mind, someone can appear to be a great person but have a negative, immoral character.
2. A positive role model will motivate you to build a moral character. In other words, a positive role model will encourage you to make right choices. A right choice is one where respect is shown in your life and also to the lives of others, ensuring that no one is treated unfairly or harmed.
By becoming a person of integrity, you too can become a role model and influence someone else to obtain a positive moral character. Just think about it, in the same way you admire and emulate others, someone could be admiring and emulating the true values and positive character you demonstrate.
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