Peer groups, in many ways, help make the process easier to move from depending upon your parent to becoming independent. "To be able to stand up on your own, without you parents, you need to feel that you are worth something. Sharing secrets, fears, and adventures with your friends strengthens your sense of your own value.

" (Kaplan 16) It seems that the members of these peer groups make you feel accepted and even worthwhile. When the tables are turned and something is happening between friends or between acquaintances, that is when you know what you are dealing with. For example, when a group of friends are at a party, and all of them are drinking but one person, the group will most likely begin to harass the one person that isn't drinking to drink. Why would friends do that to one another? It is a simple question of friends accepting one another, and respecting the morals of others.

It is hard to grow up in society today because of our surroundings. People don't know when to draw the line between suggesting something and pressuring someone into doing something they don't want to do. "Independence and responsibility call for calm decision-making. They mean making mistakes, reviewing results closely, and finding improved answers." (Kaplan 190) Sometimes it could be a good learning experience to have been in a situation that peer pressure was involved. These experiences bring you much wisdom for future experiences dealing with peer pressure. They can help

Some common words found in the essay are:
Peer Pressure, peer pressure, throughout lives,
Approximate Word count = 772
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)