Peer Pressure

This is a very interesting topic for me, because there is someone I know that struggles very much with this, even though I'm not even sure if he knows it.

So, this is basically it, being pressured to do things by your friends or other people that you might be trying to impress because they'll have some sort of respect for you if you do it. That's the first thing that many people think of when they think of peer pressure. But, there's also the smaller things. Like, when you are with your friends and they want to work out, but you have a mountain of homework to do and you need to get started on some of it. You were planning to do that, but, now that your friends are gong to go work out, you think you'll just follow them.

For all the talks and lectures I've been given about peer pressure, this example has not been given a lot. But, I believe that it needs to be given a lot more. Usually, when I've heard about peer pressure, I've heard about doing drugs, smoking, drinking and things in that genre, but never about the example that I've stated above. That example is important because it tends to happen earlier than when people get pressured with drinking or smoking. If you gain the confidence to do what you want to do, or what you think you need to do early on, before drugs, smoking and drinking come into play, than you will have a much easier time saying no later on.

This happened to me today, and I am sad to say that I didn't say no, even though I was contemplating it multiple times. I had to stay after school because my dad couldn't pick me up, and my friends wanted to go to the gym, however, I had a lot of homework that I needed to complete. I wanted to leave, and do my homework, however, I felt like I wasn't going to have any fun if I did so. So, I stayed, and now, I have a lot of homework to complete before I can sleep.

So, have you ever had to deal with peer pressure? How so? And what do you believe is the point where you being influenced by your friends is going too far?