Do you have friends at school? Do your friends have an influence on your learning process? If your classmates refuse to do their homework, do you take the same attitude? If your answer is YES to any of the previous questions, then you might be being influenced by your classmates. Influential students can be defined as people who do not make decisions based on their opinions. These students tend to please others ignoring their own feelings in order to get their classmates’ approval. Sometimes students let aside what they think to be accepted in a group. A negative influence from peers is a risk factor in psychosocial and cognitive development because people who follow what others say have an effect on their learning and identity development. Belonging to a group is something that people experience while they are at school. During my work experience, I have observed pretty common situations related to this issue. In 7th grade there is a group of boys who are disruptive, yet considered the most popular. These troublesome students usually do not do their homework, but one day one of them wanted to do an interactive activity. This student changed his mind when he saw that his classmates were not interested in this activity. Finally, this boy behaved with the same attitude as his classmates.
In childhood and adolescence the social interaction is the most relevant factor in the construction of identity in students’ life (Papalia, 2005). It is hoped that social interaction does not make a negative influence on children’s self-confidence and personality because it has important consequences on identity and learning process. There are students, especially adolescents, who make decisions based on peer’s opinion. Following what others want has an inevitable consequence on students’ identity. Questions such us: Who am I? What do I want? can affect decision making and problem solving in daily life. How am I going to face a problem if I do not know who I am? All these questions support the idea that peer’s influence is the main cause of lack of identity. Another relevant consequence is that the learning process can be affected by other’s judgment. As mentioned above, a group of students made a negative influence on this boy by showing him how great not doing homework was!
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you want to play tennis but you end up playing football? I recommend you to think a little bit about your behavior at school and at home. If you realize that you behave differently at school or at home, for example, try to analyze why. Therefore, I suggest making a list of activities that you really enjoy doing at school, and a list of things that you do not like at all. Then question yourself if you really do what you desire or what others want. The importance of knowing who you are has to be present in all the stages of your life especially when you are an adolescent. A negative influence from your peers can hamper identity development. Behaving like your classmates at school can affect your learning process, but more than that, your identity.
