➔ Peer pressure affects the social and

academic lives of students.

➔ Teachers are noticing a culture of
competition in their classrooms
◆ Students rushing to be the first to
complete assignments
◆ Students comparing their work to the
work of those around them.
➔ Negative effects of social pressures to
compete
◆ Lower quality of students’ work
◆ Lower confidence in academic
➔ Pressure to fit in puts less focus on academics.

➔ Peer pressure is a powerful force that affects educational choices

and whether students undertake important investments that could
improve academic performance or outcomes.
◆ Students typically feel high amounts of pressure when
completing independent work and they see someone jump up
and turn their work in first. A lot of the time, everyone else in
the class who is not finished will rush the rest of their work
and will not perform as high academically.
◆ In some cases, being smart is looked down upon in peer
groups.
➔ When viewed in the correct way, peer pressure is not always bad.
Peers provide…
◆ Friendship
◆ Socialization opportunities
◆ Feedback and advice
◆ Encouragement
◆ New experiences
➔ Teacher Interviews:
◆ A second grade teacher explained that the majority of her students
do not care much about what others think about their appearance or
actions. However, when it comes to academics, students are always in
a rush to finish their classwork first and are always looking around
them to see if anyone else is still working.
➔ Student Interviews:
◆ Pre-K students said they were not intimidated by the opinions of their
peers in social settings.
◆ Multiple second grade students proved their teacher’s response by
explaining that they do not care about what others think of them, but
they do feel like everything is a competition.
● LN: “I mean I do not care if someone does not like my clothes or
what I like to do in my freetime, but I always like to finish my
work first. If I don’t finish first, I feel rushed and kind of
embarrassed that I didn’t already finish my work.”
 ➔ Observations:
‘ ◆ Students in Pre-K tended to copy the answers of their peers
during large group activities (ex: if their friend’s like the
color blue then they do too; do not share genuine opinions
and feelings).
◆ Students in 2nd grade consistently feel the need to shout,
“I’m done!” when finished with any task.
◆ If students see that their peers are completing assignments
and tasks quicker, they feel the need to rush through their
work rather than checking for accuracy.
➔ As students age, they begin to become more aware of
the actions of their peers
➔ Students feel more pressure from their peers’
performance as they go through school
◆ Pressure academically and socially to succeed
➔ Teachers are able to better prevent peer pressure when
they allow students to form their own opinions in the
classroom
◆ Ex: have students write their answers before
sharing so that they aren’t taking the answers of
their peers
CBC Kids: Small Talk| Peer Pres
sure
 A Bad Case of the
Herb, The Vegetarian Stripes
Dragon By: Jules Bass By: David Shannon
Think for Myself at
Herb is the only Camilla Cream’s favorite
vegetarian dragon in the School food is lima beans, but she
kingdom & is faced with a By: Kristy Hammil never eats them because
dilemma when he needs the kids at school don’t like
Kale always thinks for
some help but the other them. Camilla is always
himself at school. When
dragons will only help if he worried about what the
the other kids in his class
gives in to peer pressure other kids think about her
all choose to like the same
eats meat. so much that she’s about to
1. The Peer Effect on Academic Achievement among Public Elementary Scho
ol Students. A Report of the Heritage Center for Data Analysis
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2. https://njleftbehind.org/2014/12/the-impact-of-peer-pressure-on-student-a
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3. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/01/never-first-finish-pace-matters/
4. https://teens.lovetoknow.com/The_Extent_to_which_Peer_Groups_Affect_A
cademic_Performance
5. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c6e5/9636ded17c6bef56dec661bed8848
2ffd614.pdf
6. https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/peer-pressure-starts-childhood-not-te
ens
7. Peer Pressure Begins in Elementary School (Psych Central)
8. https://living.thebump.com/effects-peers-child-development-10740.html
9. For Parents: How to Encourage Communication About Peer Pressure
10. https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/peer-pressure.html
11. http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/peer-relations/according-experts/early-
peer-relations-and-their-impact-childrens-development