2008 Woodie Awards
Peer education office offers assistance to students seeking advice
By Selina O. Affram
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Originally published: 4/17/08 at 8:44 PM CSTLast update: 7/11/08 at 6:08 PM CST
Peer pressure is a struggle for the youth of today's society, and with the influence of popular media, some are misled by unhealthy influences.
Peer pressure affects a large percentage of college students.
A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health of 119 college campuses showed that two out of five college students drink five drinks in a row at least once every two weeks - which means 44 percent of collegians binge drink.
Peer presure is the influence of peers or youth of the same age that encourage each other to partake in particular activities.
This issue can be of a positive nature, just as it can be negative.
A common misconception of college students is that they rave and party hard, but that is not true for all college students.
Marcus Cromartie, business management sophomore, is the exception to the norm.
Cromartie, a member of this college's basketball team, on he said he is motivated to ignore peer pressure.
"I don't want to do anything to jeopardize playing, like drinking and driving, but mainly I have been taught what's right and wrong, safe and not," he said.
He said peer pressure can be positive, such as receiving encouragement to get better grades, staying in school and keeping a strong mind.
He said that with most situations of negative peer pressure, he just brushes it off because it does not faze him and he knows how to stay away from it.
"I don't want to let my parents down by doing something negative or illegal," Cromartie said. "Everybody has dreams and goals, even those who don't care about life, positive or negative."
He encourages other college students who may have negative influences to not let anything stop them from getting to where they want to be in life.
Peer Educators from the peer education office in Room 120 of Chance contribute assistance to students in need of help with counseling.
Peer Educator Terrence Jones, computer science sophomore, said one frequent occurrence involves college students partying during spring break and holidays.
Jones said a few years ago a student from here was killed in a drinking and driving incident, which hit home and opened others' eyes about the seriousness of this issue.
Educator Yolanda King, business management sophomore, said peer pressure can include the influence of being around friends on campus and wanting to hang out, not study and being late to class.
"It's important to choose your friends wisely," King said.
It also is important to surround oneself with a positive group of friends with similar goals, she said.
Peer pressure affects a large percentage of college students.
A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health of 119 college campuses showed that two out of five college students drink five drinks in a row at least once every two weeks - which means 44 percent of collegians binge drink.
Peer presure is the influence of peers or youth of the same age that encourage each other to partake in particular activities.
This issue can be of a positive nature, just as it can be negative.
A common misconception of college students is that they rave and party hard, but that is not true for all college students.
Marcus Cromartie, business management sophomore, is the exception to the norm.
Cromartie, a member of this college's basketball team, on he said he is motivated to ignore peer pressure.
"I don't want to do anything to jeopardize playing, like drinking and driving, but mainly I have been taught what's right and wrong, safe and not," he said.
He said peer pressure can be positive, such as receiving encouragement to get better grades, staying in school and keeping a strong mind.
He said that with most situations of negative peer pressure, he just brushes it off because it does not faze him and he knows how to stay away from it.
"I don't want to let my parents down by doing something negative or illegal," Cromartie said. "Everybody has dreams and goals, even those who don't care about life, positive or negative."
He encourages other college students who may have negative influences to not let anything stop them from getting to where they want to be in life.
Peer Educators from the peer education office in Room 120 of Chance contribute assistance to students in need of help with counseling.
Peer Educator Terrence Jones, computer science sophomore, said one frequent occurrence involves college students partying during spring break and holidays.
Jones said a few years ago a student from here was killed in a drinking and driving incident, which hit home and opened others' eyes about the seriousness of this issue.
Educator Yolanda King, business management sophomore, said peer pressure can include the influence of being around friends on campus and wanting to hang out, not study and being late to class.
"It's important to choose your friends wisely," King said.
It also is important to surround oneself with a positive group of friends with similar goals, she said.
This is an open forum for the readers of TheRanger.org. Abusive, inflammatory, slanderous, obscene and libelous language will not be tolerated. Please be considerate of other readers when posting comments. This is not the place for personal attacks. The staff of The Ranger.org reserves the right to deny publication of any posts. The comments posted here do not reflect the opinions of The Ranger staff, San Antonio College or the Alamo Community College District.
Be the first to comment on this story