| "You really can't blame kids for getting into drugs..." | | | | kids are much smarter than we, their predecessors. |
| my friend said. "Peer Pressure is just too much for | | | | They invented the term, Peer Pressure, and have |
| them." Oh, no!, I thought. There's that word again. | | | | managed to convince not only their elders, but also |
| What is this thing called Peer Pressure, anyway? It | | | | themselves, that it, alone, is what makes them cheat |
| seems that this mysterious malady is responsible for | | | | on tests, drive under the influence of alcohol, lie, |
| the majority of anti-social and illegal acts we read | | | | steal, take drugs, and do a lot of other things |
| about in our morning papers. The perpetrator | | | | frowned upon by society. As a result, when they end |
| involved is usually absolved, partially if not wholly, by | | | | up in trouble, they are merely tragic victims of that |
| convincing everyone that Peer Pressure made him do | | | | horrible ogre, Peer Pressure. |
| it. | | | | Times have really changed; the world has become |
| What a brilliant scheme---and why didn't someone | | | | much more compassionate than it was when I was a |
| come up with it in my day? | | | | child. Would you believe it? In my day, they called |
| Peer Pressure, where were you the time I put mud | | | | these helpless victims, "juvenile delinquents!" |
| on Dean McFarland's tricycle seat? If I remember | | | | Seriously, it is difficult to raise kids today who don't |
| correctly, this deed was done at the suggestion of at | | | | occasionally do something against their (and our) |
| least one of my peers; a boy who insinuated that | | | | better judgment just because everyone else is doing |
| those who didn't take part in the "dirty" deed would | | | | it, too, and they don't want to look like an oddball, or |
| forever afterward be known as "chickens", a fate | | | | "chicken." |
| we evidently regarded as worse than death, because | | | | One of the best cures our family has found for peer |
| we quickly gathered 'round and joined in the | | | | pressure is to have our kids project a little peer |
| slathering. | | | | pressure of their own. Bright colored T-Shirts, with |
| And what about the time Grandma almost disowned | | | | the words, "Just Do What's Right!" across the front |
| me for braiding her string mop into a hundred little | | | | of them help state their position from the beginning |
| pigtails while two of my sisters smothered snickers, | | | | and serve as a reminder for them to ask, when |
| and egged me on. Did you, Peer Pressure, get | | | | confronted with a questionable choice, "Is this really |
| blamed? Not a chance. I suffered a tongue lashing I | | | | the right thing to do?" |
| have not forgotten to this day! And even after I had | | | | Surprisingly, they receive very little heckling about the |
| grown children of my own, I could never look | | | | shirts. Instead, most of the kids think they are |
| Grandma straight in the eye for fear she would bring | | | | "Cool," and a few have even asked where they can |
| up that awful deed, again. | | | | get similar shirts. (Most malls have a kiosk where you |
| And then there was the great Huckleberry Finn | | | | can tell them what you want printed on a t-shirt and |
| caper. With your help, Peer Pressure, I'm sure I could | | | | they will be happy to accomodate you--for a price, |
| have avoided the humiliation of being publicly yanked | | | | of course, but it is usually less than buying an already |
| off the raft my friends and I were sailing down the | | | | printed t-shirt with something else on it---something |
| South Fork of the Willamette River. Lots of people | | | | that you might not want your kids to wear, anyway. |
| were there that day, but not a sign of you, so I'm | | | | Remind your kids that peer pressure is no excuse. |
| sure you'll forgive me for sometimes doubting your | | | | They are smart kids and you expect them to think |
| existence. | | | | for themselves and come up with the right decisions |
| I'm inclined to believe that the real truth is, today's | | | | just because they are right. |