OC HIGH / STUDENT NEWS & VIEWS : Pressure Cooker : Going Along With Group Can Lead to Problems, Challenge Individuality

It has been epitomized in the myriad of adolescent novels and after-school specials. Oprah, Donahue and Sally Jessy Raphael have spent countless episodes delving into its effects.

Psychologists have written best-selling books about the subject, and even former First Lady Nancy Reagan jumped on the peer-pressure bandwagon with her “Just Say No” campaign of the 1980s.

Going along with the crowd in order to feel accepted--also known as peer pressure--is credited with a fair amount of trouble that teens find themselves in these days.

Peer pressure can have positive effects, too. For instance, while there might be peer pressure in some groups to start smoking cigarettes, in other peer groups there might be strong pressure not to smoke.

But it is the negative influences peer groups can have that have created so much concern. For many teens, being “part of the group” leads to drug or alcohol abuse, sexual activity they aren’t ready for or gang violence.

Eight million of the nation’s 20.7 million junior and senior high school students reported using alcohol weekly, according to a 1992 study by the U.S. surgeon general. “For many teen-agers, peer pressure is a large factor (for) them starting to drink,” a spokeswoman for Alcoholics Anonymous said.

“Peer pressure can force you to do things you normally would not do under different circumstances,” admitted a 15-year-old male student at Foothill High School in Santa Ana. “When all your friends are drinking, smoking or doing drugs, it is hard to refuse without sticking out.”

And if you don’t go along with the crowd, it can often mean sitting out a party at home--alone with the thought that you made the right decision.

For others, the decision is easier. “I’ve never been around the type of people who put pressure on me for drinking, drugs or smoking,” said Foothill student Sarita Peng, 17. “If I was at a party and you had to drink, I wouldn’t. What would people do if you don’t? Don’t do it if you don’t want to.”

But still, the conflict exists. “Every situation has potential for peer pressure,” said 17-year-old Tara Budzyn, a student at Foothill High. “If you have confidence in yourself, you will not fall prey, but if you don’t, you follow the crowd.”

Then there’s sex. That and drugs are the two most pressing problems for teen-agers, said Rabbi Elie Spitz of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin. In a recent national survey done by Seventeen magazine, one-fourth of females and one-third of males said they had engaged in sexual intercourse by the time they were 15.

“Many teen-agers engage in premature sex because they believe it is a way to find love or be accepted by another person,” said a 16-year-old female student at Foothill. “And of course you feel pressure from your friends and fellow classmates because everyone is ‘doing it.’ ”

Peer pressure has also played a prominent role in the rise of gang violence. According to state Justice Department records, the number of gang-connected killings in Orange County has jumped 566% since 1988, while the population has increased 13%. There are 275 identified gangs with a total membership of nearly 17,000 in Orange County.

Says 15-year-old Francisco, a gang member from Huntington Beach, “A lot of (gang members) don’t have love from their families. We give them love, respect. We give the love right there in the neighborhood.”

*

So what can be done to lessen the pull of peer pressure?

“My recommendation is for parents to encourage activities in school,” said Judy Friesen, director of the Youth Shelter in Laguna Beach. “Teen-agers who are active in school are less likely to be influenced.”

Paul Hoernig, a Newport Beach psychiatrist who works with young people, says common sense is the best antidote. “Use your head. Most kids know right from wrong.”

John Dowdell, 16, a Foothill student, concurs. “If I was put in a situation where there was peer pressure, I don’t think I would succumb to it, because I think I’ve set my own standards and don’t need to follow anyone else’s.”