Youth Power
Sachin Malhotra
Peer Pressure
Not too long ago, I was hanging with my 2 friends at the mall. I was really excited to hand with them outside of school because this is the first time we hung out in a while. We walked around the mall for a while and then went by one store which sells diamonds and jewelry. When we almost walked in the door to look, four other teens started yelling"hey, hey you guys, come here!"we walked over to them and they were trying to make us steal some diamonds from the store for them. They were saying stuff like"don't worry you won't be caught!"and"come one don't be a wimp!"Me and my friends looked at each other and we all say no and no thanks. They said"Really?!?come on!!!"I said"we are not going to steal diamonds for you guys!That's ridiaulous"They then said"fine. We'!! just ask someone else"we all walked away together then we looked back and saw then asking more teens to do the same thing. We looking at each other and gave each other high fives. We felt proud to not go under peer pressure. We would have gotten in so much trouble if we got caught. From then on, we never fell into peer pressure. It might be hard but you can overcome peer pressure too.
Shreshtha Saini
The INFLUENCE of others
The pressure to conform something can be powerful and hard to resist. There is a group of teens in almost every school which is the most popular and everyone wants to be a part of it . Mine was not different than others. In our school this group was labelled as the #cool group. If ever you get an opportunity to become a part of these sort of groups , you wouldn’t like to miss a chance. When I was in class 9 , I was invited to join the group. I was so influenced by their popularity that without even thinking twice I joined them. These people wanted to make a difference but the type of difference they wanted to make was as good as a difference not made because all they did was bullying juniors , abusing people who spoke against them, they did all the bad things which are sufficient to push you into a pool of darkness. Now that I was a part of this group I had to do all those things which I didn’t like because I wanted to fit in , I wanted to be liked by them but I knew that the things they are doing are not right. Now it was my choice whether I want to be a part of this or not. I was in dilemma and couldn’t decide myself because I didn’t want to be their next target . I shared it all with my mom . She sighed and answered quite beautifully –“ You can’t let people scare you. You can’t go your life trying to please everyone. You can’t go through life worried about what everyone else is going to think. You can’t let the judgement of others stop you from BEING YOU , if you do , you are not you anymore but someone everyone else want you to be.” Her words triggered my conscience and the very next moment I made my decision and decided to leave that group. I made them feel that they are not doing the right thing . Now I know that I might not be one amongst the most popular people in school but I have made a difference , I stood for myself which is why I am satisfied with what I did .I learned that people might forget what you did , but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.
Guntas Grewal
I AM MY OWN TYPE
“Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart. But tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising. There’s nothing wrong with who you are.” -Jessie Jay. You are not skinny. You don't wear makeup. You don't wear a pout; you wear a toothy smile. You wear baggy sweatshirts. You wear hope and confidence. You are different. You are not like us. You are genuine. And that, that is unacceptable. It threatens us. How dare you not conform to our normal, how dare you not follow our ways, how dare you be you? Now, wait and watch. We will traumatize you until you become one of us. Until you become a clone. Until you lose yourself. Peer; a person who is our equal in certain respects. Pressure is persuasion; intimidation. All of us want normalcy. We want to be accepted, we want to belong, to fit in, to be liked. And this is exactly why we succumb to peer pressure. I have stayed in more than ten cities in the sixteen years of my existence and I have been unfortunate enough to have come across a potpourri of peer pressure. The urge to belong took over and I lost myself to it quite a few times. Eventually, I started getting uncomfortable in my own skin. And that is when I drew the line. This pressure feeds on you. It won't ever stop. You will never fully belong. I'd rather be hated for being me than being loved for someone who I am not. I don't want to be molded by others; I will shape myself. Yeah, I still wear that dreamy look, I still wear the hope, I still trust too easily, I may not be pretty but I am beautiful. I dare to be me so I can breathe comfortably in my body. I stand alone but I stand strong. I am not here to live up to somebody's expectations and nobody is here to live up to mine. I have stopped pretending and so should you. I am honest to myself and I am simply proud of it. When I lost myself in the found, I found myself in the lost.