Peer Pressure

      Peer pressure is an issue that every kid comes across at one point in their lives.  Around the teenage years is usually where it all begins.  You are starting middle school and meeting new people who are influencing you with new ideas.  Some of these ideas may be smart and beneficial, like studying for a test, joining a sports team, or volunteering to support a good cause.  However, your peers may also encourage you to do something you don't feel comfortable with, this is where the pressure part comes in.  It's hard to make a decision when all your friends have already agreed and are standing around, watching you.  The article "Dealing with peer pressure" on kidshealth.org, states, "The idea that "everyone's doing it" can influence some kids to leave their better judgement, or their common sense, behind".  Even though most kids know what the right choice is, they go against their gut, because they don't want to feel like an outcast.  Another article, "Peer Pressure: It's influence on Teens and Decision Making" on headsup.scholastic.com, says, "Ultimately the decision to act (or not to act) is up to us as individuals.  So when it comes to decision making, the choice is up to you".  In the end, you have to ignore the pressure and do what you know is right.
      I chose to write about this topic, because many kids can relate to it.  Even if you haven't experienced peer pressure, you will most likely encounter it, or maybe a close friend of yours will.  My experiences of being in middle school have shown me how so many people can change drastically from peer pressure.  As we approach our teen years, we get so caught up in popularity and what others think of us.  But it's important to have true friends who appreciate us for who we really are.  Friends who would never pressure us into doing something we didn't want to do.
      I want my readers to learn that you should never let peer pressure overcome you and the choices you make.  Don't agree with someone just because everyone else agrees.  Support your own decision, even if it's different from everyone else's.  Just be yourself, and if your peers don't accept you for who you are, that's their loss.  Don't change because someone else wants you to, be proud of the person you are.

                    
        

      

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'engle

A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl named Meg who goes on a journey, with her brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin, to find her father who has been gone for several years.  Rumor has it that he left her mother for another women, but Meg doesn't believe it and neither does her mother.  Meg and Charles live a complicated life, a life that some may even relate to.  The questions being answered here are, what conflicts are happening in the text?  Do these issues take place in the real world?

1) Meg is very insecure about herself.
Quote: "How do you know I'm not dumb?  Isn't it because you love me?" (pg.14)
Thoughts: I feel like many people can relate to Meg in this way.  When your parents say that you're smart or pretty, sometimes you think they are just saying it because they're your parents and they have to.      

2) Charles Wallace isn't comfortable being himself around others.
Quote: "I think it will be better if people go on thinking I am not very bright.  They won't hate me quite so much." (pg.36)
Thoughts: I think there are lots of people in the world who feel like they can't always be themselves.  It seems like Charles Wallace feels that if he acts intelligent, no one will want to be his friend.  Peer pressure is definitely a huge issue that causes this feeling.  Kids strive to fit in with everyone around them, they don't want to be "different".

3) Meg is really stressed with school.
Quote: "At school Meg was tired and her eyelids sagged and her mind wandered." (pg.30)
Thoughts: I find that this is an issue that a lot of students probably have and suffer from.  One cause can be from sleep deprivation, but there are also kids who just find it harder to focus in school than others.

4) Meg's father has been gone for a long time, leaving everyone suspicious as to where he could be and who he is with.
Quote: ""Tell me about your father." "He's a physicist." "Sure, we all know that.  And he's supposed to have left your mother and gone off with some dame."  Meg jerked up from the stone on which she was perched but Calvin grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down." (pg.57)
Thoughts: It seems like there has been lots of gossip going around about Meg's father and that he supposedly went off with another women.  This can be very upsetting for Meg and her brothers, they don't want to be thinking that their father would do something like this.  Many people can relate to negative rumors spreading about them or someone they know, and it can make them feel really bad.