‘Peer
Pressure Helps Children to Grow’
Worthy Principal,
respected Judges, teachers, and dear audience, today, I’m going to speak in
favour of the move ‘‘Peer Pressure Helps Children to Grow’.
Just
yesterday, I was talking to my maternal grandfather and asked him if he knew
anything about the term ‘peer-pressure’. He just smiled and told me that in his
days such type of term was not heard but still he said that students were made
to realise their targets by continuously pushing them ahead by several means.
They used to quote examples of other students who were at the top of the class
and so on.
Respected
Judges, what I could understand about the term is being presented now.
In my humble
opinion, ‘peer pressure’ had always been there in the past and is still
present in our minds. What I feel is that without this pressure in the mind,
there may be very few students, who work on their own and move successfully to
realise their goals. But the majority of students require to have ‘peer
pressure to proceed further towards their goals.
Now, I’m
going to talk about a few points that justify the requirement of peer pressure
in students’ minds to grow in life.
First,
children are not fully mature to understand how to cope up with changing
situations in life. They are not capable of distinguishing between ‘wrong’ and ‘right’.
So wise parents guide their children to be aware of right and wrong
decisions. When the parents quote examples of other students who are
well-disciplined and motivated to work according to time table, etc., their
children also follow their parents’ points easily and start work accordingly.
In a way, they work under peer pressure, though indirectly.
Second, most
of the students need examples to follow. They have a natural tendency to work
in a group or to work under some pressure. Until or unless their parents or
teachers tell them that they are lagging behind in their studies or in any
project, they do not move. The moment they come to know that, they work speedily.
Third, I
must say that when students continue working according to their plan or
schedule, they become habitual of it. Although they start working under, maybe,
extreme pressure in the beginning, they may continue habitually with a
little bit of pressure.
Fourth, the pressure
of time or that of ‘peers’ is not only necessary but also unavoidable. This is
true not in the case of children but also of the grown-up. You should be agreed
with me that almost in every field of life, peer pressure works. A farmer
in a village also compares himself with another farmer and moves on to get
better results. In a corporate office, the pressure of leaving their competitors
behind is always at its peak. In a school, a good teacher always wishes to be
in the good books of the principal by working harder than his or her
counterpart.
Fifth, the
children who work under ‘peer pressure’ always succeed in achieving their
targets. But here I would like to add that the term ‘peer pressure’ must be
understood properly. It is always positive and motivates the children to grow
in thoughts and emotions. It makes school-going children feel at ease and take
it a part of their life. It works as a motivating force to make children grow
into responsible personalities.
