What pressures do teenagers today have to put up with?

I think that the second hardest pressure is looking right. For example, you can't have last year's hairstyle and you must be wearing the latest pair of trainers from the most expensive shop, but people they just can't afford it. This mainly is the competition between girls to look the best, and sometimes this can lead to fighting and bullying. Girls would prefer to wear the highest healed shoes they can find and be fashionable than wear a nice pair of comfortable shoes, which wont cause them back problems in the future. The same applies for boys. They would much rather wear a fifty-pound pair of uncomfortable Nike trousers than wear a pair of cheap ones. In school, there are rules about uniform, but still, girls disobey them and wear things that make them look "cool". Buying named shoes, flared trousers and fitted shirts are just a few examples, but there are many more. As a teenager I personally feel pressured to wear the right things when I am out with my friends and I am sure that everyone feels the same about this.

Being popular is very important to teenagers, being in with the write group and being cleaver and funny all lead towards being popular. Some teenagers that want to be popular will do things for there friends that they don't believe in but they will do it just to impress him or her, This is not a very good idea because if the group of people who u want to get in with don't really like you, but just making you do things for them to make you feel part of the group.

Another issue is smoking, why do over 30% of teenagers smoke although when they have been warned about the dangers of smoking in school and by their parents? Everyone knows these dangers, so why do they carry on doing it? Many teenagers smoke because their friend's smoke so they feel pressured into smoking. They think their friends will call them names and exclude them from the group if they don't have a drag. If you smoke when you are young you are twice as likely to get cancer when you are older than if you didn't smoke. Other things that cause young people to smoke are problems at home. Nicotine is a relaxant drug therefore if the teenager feels stress, they can smoke and it seems as though all their problems have gone. Girls who try to lose weight fast are also normally addicted to smoking; this is because it is 'something to take your mind off eating'. In actual fact, you will probably gain more weight trying to smoke and not eat, rather than if you just eat and didn't smoke.

Alcohol is a big pressure in teenager's lives because everyone has tried alcohol by the time they are 13, all teenagers like to go out with friends and have fun. But many parents do not permit it but in doing so it is basically telling them to disobey them, because when they were younger they had a drink under age. Personally I don't feel pressured to have a drink because I enjoy having fun, my parents said that they cannot stop us from drinking because they did it when they were younger, but just be sensible. Many of my friends drink on a regular basis and there parents let them but many drink and their parents don't know.

Drugs are a very controversial issue, I no many people who use soft drugs such as cannabis I personally think this is wrong and not only stupid but also illegal not only are drugs expensive but they only last the minimal amount of time for a drug such as cannabis it has less long term affects than tobacco and I think it is the fact that it is illegal that make more and more people want to try it and bye it.

Sex is one of the more difficult topics to talk about, and I personally feel strongly about, many boys pressure there girlfriends into having sex, I think this is wrong because if a boy loves you enough then he can wait to have sex. For most of our teenage life it is illegal to have sex anyway but 70% of people have sex before 16 anyway, there are many risks involved in sex for example STI'S (Sexually transmitted disease) many are not life threatening and are easily cured, another risk is becoming pregnant not only can the boy arrested for rape but the girl is probably too young to keep the baby because it is a big emotional challenge and not many can cope.