Dr. Val FarmerDr.Val
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Rural Mental Health & Family Relationships

Top Teens Look At Their Peers

June 23, 1997

"What is the biggest issue facing teens today?" This question was posed to 49 high school seniors with the top grade point averages from 33 high schools in western South Dakota and two in Wyoming. The Rapid City Journal published their responses in a special 1997 graduation edition of the Rapid City Journal.

These aren't adults judging teens. These are bright teens sharing their observations of what is going on around them. So what do these students think about the challenges teenagers face today? Some teens mentioned more than one issue. These 49 students raised a total of 72 issues. I lumped their responses into broad categories.

Alcohol and drugs problems - 25

Peer pressure - 12

Lack of motivation, purpose or direction in life - 10

Lack of guidance, moral standards, example and direction from families and adults - 10

Sexual issues - STD's, pregnancy, teen sex, AIDS - 7

Violence - 4

Insecure about future and stress of a complex world - 3

Racism and prejudice - 2

Here are some of their ideas on what their peers are facing:

On family life and lack of guidance:

  • "The biggest issue facing teens is the lower standards adults are setting for us and we are setting for ourselves."
  • "...is the lack of guidance and caring from many parents and broken homes."
  • "Young people need mentors. When there are none to be found, they look for it where they shouldn't. If a good example is set, it tends to be followed, as will a bad one. The biggest issue facing teens today is a lack of good examples."
  • "A bad home life. If teens have problems at home, they will find somewhere else to go and this may lead to other problems such as drug, alcohol and gangs."

On peer pressure:

  • "Low self-confidence. Teens must be secure within themselves to avoid today's negative peer pressure."
  • "...is the courage to stand up for what is right. I think teens aren't independent enough. They conform to the ideas of others too easily - peer pressure.
  • "Negative influence of friends. Not only do friends often lead teens to make poor behavior choices, they can also keep them from achieving the success they are capable of becoming."
  • "Drugs and alcohol. Teens want to fit in and they sometimes choose the wrong path."
  • "Teens who have an attitude that there isn't anything to do, and that's their excuse for poor behavior."

On moral values and standards:

  • "Teen violence. Morality needs to be taught and given to everyone."
  • "Their moral values aren't at a level where they need to be. If their morals were right, there wouldn't be as much killing, teen pregnancy, alcohol abuse - and the list goes on and on.
  • "Apathy. It is incredibly easy to do nothing with your life, but through helping others in the community we can better ourselves."
  • "I think it's living up to the standards put into us by ourselves, our parents, our teachers, our peers and society in general. Some teens escape the pressure of living up to these standards by resorting to alcohol, drugs, violence and sex."
  • "The biggest issue facing teens is what we're going to do about God. We can either believe in Him - and then choose to live for Him or not -or reject Him. How we respond determines the whole course of our lives."

My summary. My characterization of this is that teens fully understand the extent and negative consequences of drug and alcohol problems among their peers. Teen alcohol abuse is by far and away the biggest issue they see facing their peers. Teen sex and violence were also frequently mentioned issues.

These top teenagers make the connection between negative peer pressure and poor family guidance that contribute directly to these problems. They sense that their peers struggle with a lack of purpose, direction and strong moral values, leaving them vulnerable to peer pressure and apathy regarding their lives.

The students lay this at the doorstep of parents and the lack of adult guidance and example in their lives. What they perhaps don't fully recognize is that the desire to fit in is so powerful that even children with good backgrounds and families give in to peer pressure - usually in the form of teen drinking, and as one student mentioned, underachieving.

Hope for the future. I feel great hope when I read the thoughts of youth of this caliber who have risen above these pressures. They will be among the future leaders and strength of society. They understand who they are and what they are about. They have purpose and values in their lives. They have been courageous enough to stand apart and above the negative influences that drag down some of their peers.

Who inspired them to be successful? Among the sources of information, thirtynine mentioned their parents' influence, one mentioned a grandparents, eight mentioned teachers, five attributed their inspiration to God, three mentioned a friend and two quoted a wise saying.

Is there any doubt where their strength and dedication come from? The solution for the influence of negative peer pressure lies in good parenting and family life, along with the influence of other good adult role models. Astute teens see what is happening around them. The answers are in the home.