There are six types of peer pressure and tips for parents to help their child make healthy, life-long choices: 1. Spoken peer pressure is when a teenager asks, suggests, persuades, or otherwise directs another to engage in a specific behavior. If the spoken influence takes place within a group, the pressure to go along with the group is immense. 2. With unspoken peer pressure, a teenager is exposed to the actions of one or more peers and is left to choose whether they want to follow along. This could take the form of fashion choices, personal interactions or ‘joining’ types of behavior (clubs, teams, etc). Many young teens lack the mental maturity to control impulses and make wise long-term decisions. 3. Direct peer pressure can be spoken or unspoken. It is normally behavior centric. Examples of these kinds of behavior would be when a teenager hands another teen an alcoholic drink, or make a sexual advance, or looks at another student’s paper during a test. The other student is put in a position of having to make an on-the-spot decision. 4. Like unspoken peer pressure, indirect peer pressure is subtle but can still exert a strong influence on an impressionable young person. When a teen overhears a friend gossiping about another person and then reacts to the gossip, that is indirect peer pressure. 5. Asking a teenager to engage in behavior that is against his/her moral code or family values is a type of negative peer pressure. Teens see the actions of other teens with stronger personalities and are put in a position of following the leader or walking away. Young people often lack the skills to say no to negative peer pressure. 6. A group of dynamic can be a positive peer influence if the behaviors are healthy, age appropriate and socially acceptable. For instance, if a peer group wants to make good grades, a young teen can be positively influenced to study. Or if a popular friend wants to earn money and save, a young teenager may also be influenced to save and open a savings account. 1. Why do you think Pee