Every now and then I get assignments here at the office, run here, copy this, take this here, etc. but I have an assignment now to start blogging for the ClearChoices website. At first I didn’t want to do it, I’m not that good at writing and being forced into writing something 2 pages long is not my idea of fun, but I’m able to write on some pretty cool stuff, and that makes this assignment a lot funner, or more fun, whichever!

I’ve decided to write my first blog on avoiding peer pressure in high school. Out of all the possible topics I could have written on, I feel the most comfortable with this one. Why? Because I can relate to you and I understand the daily pressures of high school: the kids, the trends, the parties, the lingo and girls! Believe me I know, I’ve been there. Peer pressure is so hard to fight off. It’s everywhere, in your classrooms, outside, in the cafeteria, in the gym, in school, out of school, everywhere! But its how you deal with it, and how you avoid it that makes high school, and life, easier. And it makes you a stronger and better person.

Before I can give you advice on how to avoid peer pressure and how to avoid situations where you may be pressured, I want to share with you a story of me and my experience with peer pressure.

The year was 2000. I was a freshman in high school and tiny and scared and nervous and out casted. I was friendly with some older kids who were into gothic stuff. They wore all black and painted their finger nails and listened to hardcore metal and screaming-mic music. I guess you could say that these kids were my friends. Well the first weekend of school rolled around and I got invited to go out with them. I said yes. I got picked up from my house around 8:30pm and was told by my mother to be safe and to be back at 11pm.

My older friends drove to a house party and as I got out of the car I felt uneasy and my spider senses were tingling but I ignored them anyway. We all went inside and there were people everywhere. I stuck close to the kids I knew and didn’t venture very far from them. As the night went on, my friends got more and more intoxicated and they tried to get me to drink, but I didn’t feel comfortable. They kept trying and I kept feeling uncomfortable, there was just this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong with this picture but I couldn’t figure it out. My friends got so intoxicated that none of them could take me home and I had to call my parents to get me. Well my folks were not too happy about me being at some party where there was drinking, but they were very happy that I decided to call them to come get me instead of my drunk friends driving me. And I was too.

At school the next day, I found out that the driver of the car I was in had gotten in a car accident and died! He decided to try and drive home and fell asleep at the wheel, hit the curb and crashed his car around the telephone pole. He died on impact. Had anyone else been in the car with him, they would have died too. It was scary to hear such horrible news but also eye-opening to see it. Had I chosen to let him take me home, I may not have woken up the next day.

I share with you this story because sometimes we are offered a drink, a joint, a pill, or something dangerous … we may look around see our friends having a good time and we want that too, we want to belong, we want to fit in and feel a part of the group. But sometimes it’s better to stand back and just watch. You never know what it will do to you, how it will affect your body or your mind, or what may happen after you take it. I’m sure my friends didn’t think that after he got in his car, it would be his last time doing so.

Sometimes we want to listen to our friends and do what they do, but it’s more important to listen to yourself and listen to the warning sensors your body rings for you. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, say it. If you don’t like being somewhere, leave. Don’t be influenced by your friends and their decisions. Stand up and say something and work to avoid being in situations where there will be drugs and alcohol in the first place. It’s easy to be influenced by others, and it’s hard to do the right thing…. but the good decisions you make could save your life… it did for me.

James