Young people are often influenced in their behaviors by others in the same age group. Some argue that peer pressure is important while others feel it has distinct disadvantages. Do the disadvantages of peer pressure outweigh the advantages?

There has always been a significant impact of peers on people, especially young people, for they are more impressionable than their older counterparts. While I believe there might be a few benefits of peer pressure, the drawbacks are far more consequential.

There are certainly some advantages of peer pressure or young people being influenced heavily by what those in their age group do. First, people may obtain motivation from their peers. For example, if one person in a peer group achieves something significant, others may be positively influenced by them. Others try to inculcate some positive qualities of the achiever and try to attain something big too.

Youngsters are easy to be influenced by those of their age bracket. Peer pressure may lead someone to blindly follow others without understanding the whys and the consequences.
Since there may not be maturity in people around them, there are chances of a child being misguided by others. For example, research suggests that most people start smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol because of peer pressure. Secondly, A person may not realise their abilities fully if they keep following what others are doing.

Furthermore, it has been seen that peer pressure takes an ugly shape in the current world, where people watch others who may appear to be more successful or richer on social media, causing the development of an inferiority complex in the watcher; in severe cases, it may lead to anxiety and depression.

To sum up, despite a few benefits of peer pressure, I think it has many more disadvantages for the young generation. In fact, it can prove dangerous for some.