Stand strong and say no.
Being a teenager means drawing your own path while balancing the roads you are expected to take. In simple words, figuring out who you are while having to deal with different expectations is really hard. One of the most important and dangerous components of this is peer pressure.
What is Peer Pressure?
Peer pressure is the extreme influence and force of your friends/peers on your choices, sometimes making you feel like you need to behave a certain way in order to fit in. This pressure can vary from dangerous substances such as drugs and alcohol to simply dressing differently than you usually would. Navigating through this influence is often difficult for most teenagers and is extremely damaging to your mental health and mental wellbeing.
Why is it Harmful?
Peer pressure can lead to built up stress and anxiety to adhere to what others expect from you. Not only is it damaging to your mind but it could also cause literal, sometimes physical harm as well. When considering influences of drugs and alcohol on teenagers and its glorification within adolescents, the inability to resist such temptations can not only cost your health, but your life. You should never do something just because another person tells you to do it. Always remember: you have free will and no one can force you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with.
Know Your Values
Think about what’s important to you and never let go of your principles. Take a step back and think “Do I really want to do this?”. Think about whether or not you would do it if the choice was completely up to you. Never take risks solely to please others, it will never make you feel fulfilled but will instead form a fake narrative of who you truly are. Make sure the people around you value who you are, not who they have turned you into. Learn how to say no. It is not rude to refuse something that makes you uneasy, if you have doubts then you have them for a reason. Especially when it comes to issues such as sexual relations or substance use, never take risks you aren’t 100% sure about. Your willing consent is the only thing that matters.
The Teenage Mind 