Dealing with peer pressure
At this stage in your life starting a new school and entering your teenage years, self-image can become very important. Who doesn’t want to fit in? But, you should also try not forget who you are, and where you want to be.
You’ll be faced with some challenging decisions. Maybe you have concerns about your self-image or about your personal academic choices, and if your friends are putting pressure on you, this could become quite stressful. It is important to recognise those friends who might influence your decisions in a positive way and those who may be negative that will hopefully put things into perspective.
Try to remember that any decision you make will affect you directly, especially in the future, and not the person who may be pressuring you to make the decision.
One of the most important decisions you will make at secondary school will be your subject options. This decision is yours to make! The subjects you choose will have to be something that you enjoy as well as something that will be valuable to your future prospects, as you will be studying them for the next two years and it’s you who will sit the final exam.
Imagine studying a subject that you really hate, but choose because you will be in your best mate’s class. Your best mate is very good at it and passes with flying colours, but you fail because you never liked it in the first place! Do you want to be in that position?
Think about what it would be like if you choose a subject to study because all your friends told you to, it will be a laugh in the class. You manage to get a satisfactory GCSE grade, but then you can’t do your chosen A-levels because the subject was not relevant to your course.
Do you want to be in that position? At the age of 13, you might not think too much about how subjects will shape your future, but realistically, if you choose to study the wrong subject because your friends are going to be in the class or because you like the teacher; this could affect any future career options.
Try to have a strong mind, look into possible career paths and choose subjects that will have a positive impact on your future career.
Three important questions to ask yourself when you are thinking about choosing options:
- Where am I now?
- Where do I want to be?
- How am I going to get there?