Your peers are people your age or close to it who have experiences and interests similar to yours. You and your friends make dozens of decisions every day, and you influence each other's choices and behavior. This is often  _  --- it's human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group. Sometimes, though, the stresses in your life can actually come from your peers. They may pressure you into doing something you're uncomfortable with, such as shoplifting, doing drugs or drinking, or taking dangerous risks when driving a car. The pressure to conform  can be powerful and hard to resist. A person might feel pressure to do something just because others are doing it. Peer pressure can influence a person to do something that is relatively harmless--- or something that has more serious consequences. People may feel pressure to conform, so they fit in or are accepted, or so they don't feel awkward or uncomfortable. When people are unsure of what to do in a social situation, they naturally look to others for cues about what is and isn't acceptable. The people who are most easily influenced will follow someone else's lead first. Then others may go along, too --- so it can be easy to think, "It must be OK. Everyone else is doing it. They must know what they're doing." Before you know it, many people are going along with the crowd --- perhaps on something they might not otherwise do. Responding to peer pressure is part of human nature --- but some people are more likely to give in, and others are better able to resist and stand their ground. It's not always easy to resist negative peer pressure. But when you do, it is easy to feel good about it afterwards. And you may even be a positive influence on your peers who feel the same way --- often it just takes one person to speak out or take a different action to change a situation. What can we know according to the author?
Giving in to peer pressure is unavoidable. Peer pressure usually leads to serious results. Going along with the crowd usually means making a right choice. Everyone can make a difference by resisting negative peer pressure.