The face of peer pressure is changing for this generation, in keeping with the many other societal changes they must address. Dorothy Cantor, Psychologist and former president of the American Psychological Association (APA), says, "Every generation feels like its generation has it the toughest. I think this generation today might be the most challenged since the industrial revolution."

Recent studies support the common sense judgment that adolescents today are facing a different world than even one generation ago. Nicholas Zill, Ph.D., director of the Child and Family Study Area at the prestigious survey research firm Westat, is co-author of the Child Trends report, Running in Place: How American Families Are Faring in a Changing Economy and an Individualistic Society (www.childtrends.org). In this report, Zill speaks about recent societal changes that may make today's youth more vulnerable to peer influence, targeting four main points:

1. Adult authority is weaker and more fragmented.
2. Young people are spending more time with peers, with very little regular interaction with adults.
3. Teenagers have more freedom in their own lives than previous generations of young people. They have greater freedom of choice regarding friends, school commitments, sexual activity and career paths.
4. The mass media industry exposes adolescents to a much broader range of experiences, influencing young people in ways that are still under study.

The peer culture in most U.S. high schools is working against the goals of parents, according to Zill's study. Parents report that they do not want their teenagers to smoke or drink, yet the majority of high school students have friends at school who think these activities are okay. More than 80 percent of high school students can easily get cigarettes at school and almost half have no problem getting alcohol. Parents want their teens to do well in school, and most students have high goals as well. Yet less than 40 percent of high school students say they have friends at school who think it is very important to work hard for good grades, and less than 30 percent have friends who say it is very important to behave well in school.

Tough issues need early discussion

Many parents struggle to find the right age to start talking to their children about tough issues, not wanting to burden them at a young age. Peer pressure can lead a person to make some poor choices - choices that involve underage drinking, experimental use of dangerous drugs, gang involvement, delinquent behavior such as shoplifting or defacing property, or inappropriate sexual activity. These are difficult issues to discuss with young people. However, research shows that many parents and professionals wait too long. Consider the following data:

• Studies show that children, especially those between the ages of 10 and 12, want their parents to talk with them more about today's toughest issues, including violence, peer pressure and sex, alcohol and drug abuse. Those who have early conversations are more likely to continue turning to their parents as they become teens, as reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Based on the 1998 Justice Department study among urban and suburban youth, Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youth, young people usually begin hanging out with gangs at 12 or 13 years of age, join the gang at 13 or 14, and are first arrested at 14.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that as many as 80 percent of middle school students engage in bullying behaviors. Many students tease their peers to go along with the crowd, but feel uncomfortable with their own behavior.
• Girls from age 12 admit that pressure to have sex comes from all sides - boys, other girls, their friends and the media, according to the American Association of University Women's 1999 report Voices of a Generation: Teenage Girls on Sex, School, and Self. Girls frequently cite incidents of boys as young as 12 or 13 calling girls "bitches," "sluts," and "whores" or making crude requests for sex.
• A recent Weekly Reader National Survey on Drugs and Drinking noted that more than half of sixth graders report peer pressure to drink beer, wine or liquor. One of every three sixth graders say they feel pressured to use marijuana, a drug that the American Academy of Pediatrics confirms is 25 times stronger than it was in the 1960s.
• The same survey reported that as early as the fourth grade, 40 percent of students feel pushed by friends to smoke cigarettes; 34 percent feel pressure to drink wine coolers; and 24 percent say their friends encourage them to try cocaine or crack.
• Children in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades say they would be most likely to begin using beer, wine or liquor to fit in with other youths and to feel older. Nearly half of high school students have used illicit drugs, with 48 percent of high school seniors reporting use of an illegal drug before graduating from high school (National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information).
• High school students say that they would turn to friends rather than parents if they had a personal problem with drugs. Sixth graders report they would turn to parents (National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information).

The 1998 Justice Department study, Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youth, sheds some interesting light on peer pressure and gang involvement. The report, inclusive of urban and suburban youth, cites that young people can resist peer pressure to join gangs and that young people who join gangs seeking safety are often in far greater danger for doing so than those who just say no.

Many young people believe they will be physically punished if they refuse an offer to join a gang. Media accounts of violence done to youths who refuse to join a gang add to the exaggerated picture. In reality, physical injury for refusal to join is minimal or nonexistent, especially if the youth resists politely, without "disrespecting" the gang or its members. In contrast, those who agree to join gangs are often severely assaulted as part of an initiation ritual into a life of violence.

It is startling to imagine young people being rewarded with popularity for showing extreme antisocial behavior. A study published in the January 2000 issue of Developmental Psychology (American Psychological Association) shares findings that support this claim. The study, which involved boys from more than 50 classrooms in inner-city, suburban and rural schools, found that about one third of very popular children were extremely antisocial - tending to argue, be disruptive, get into trouble and start fights. The lead researcher, Philip C. Rodkin of Duke University, says that "these boys may internalize the idea that aggression, popularity and control naturally go together, and they may not hesitate to use physical aggression as a social strategy because it has always worked in the past...a potentially dangerous characteristic."

Teach resistance

These research findings underscore the vitally important role for parents and professionals, particularly health educators, in teaching today's adolescents how to resist negative peer pressure. Health curriculum writers for the nation's schools need to take heed of today's society that appears to be "pushing the envelope" harder than any previous generation. Neglect in this area will have serious ramifications in the areas of physical health and emotional development of children entering puberty and adolescence.

Alice R. McCarthy, Ph.D., is a parenting educator researcher and curriculum writer, and author of the newly released third edition of Healthy Teens: Facing the Challenges of Young Lives. Her publishing company, Bridge Communications Inc. (www.bridge-comm.com, bridgecom@aol.com), offers parenting materials, including award-winning biannual health newsletters for grades preK through 3, 4, and 5, and 6 through 8. Karen Kittredge, M.S.W., M.Div., is a freelance writer who draws on fifteen years' experience as a therapist and chaplain (samanthak@hotmail.com)