We succumb to peer pressure when there is a need to be approved and please everyone. Our children need to understand that it’s impossible to please everyone as people are different and with various demands. Peer pressure offers a sense of belonging to either a group or a class of people and may lead us to doing things we would otherwise never do.

It reminds me of an anecdote of a couple that had just bought a donkey out of all their family savings. They were heading home alongside their donkey, very excited of their purchase. They met two people who laughed at them telling them, they should be on the donkey as that is his job, so they mounted the donkey and continued their way. A few toddles away they met a group of people who scorned them for abusing the poor donkey and making him carry two people on it’s back, to this the man stepped down and let his wife ride the donkey. They hadn’t gone much further when they met a group of people who laughed at him telling him he is the boss, so he should be the one riding the donkey, to this he had his wife step down and he mounted instead. After a few strides they met another group of people who looked at him with their jaws dropped and harshly scolded him for being non gallant and selfish, to have his poor wife walk while he rode on the donkey. Exasperated the man and his wife decided to carry the donkey. But they hadn’t gone far when they had bursts of laughter and a group of people pointing to them laughing so hard stating how in the world can human beings carry a donkey! The moral of this story is that we can never please people as everyone has their own preferences. We should aim at pleasing God instead as He will never disappoint us. He looks out for our best interest.

With school already resumed, as a young girl you might find yourself being pressured by your peers to conform to their fashion trends, social life and even their academic choices that are against your values and what you know is right. You need to be authentic, and proudly affirm who you are and your convictions. Don’t necessarily follow the path that others have walked in, but ratherchoose to create your own path that will lead you to your destiny. The Bible says in 1Corinthians 15:33 “Don’t be misled: Bad company corrupts good character”. This school year as a girl you will experience peer pressure at school especially if you are new and trying your best to fit in. Just remember the more you change to please other the more you lose your true identity. As time goes by you will be frustrated as you won’t recognize the person you have become.

Don’t be influenced, but rather choose to be an influence of good. Maybe it will mean being less popular; just remember the elites always separate themselves from the pack. Someone once said “Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is right even if no one is doing it.