Monday, April 28, 2014

Dealing with Peer Pressure

A lot of teenagers my age deal with peer pressure.  Typically this is the age where kids start drinking, smoking, trying drugs, or hosting their weekly parties.  Most of my friends have either gotten drunk, gotten high, or smoke on a regular basis and they proudly tell me about it.  "Dude I got so wasted", or the most common one, "dude I was so high that night".  Unfortunately those are my friends and although I don't agree with their choices, I can't do anything about it because I can't control them.  However, I can control what I do and I will say that I've never taken a sip of beer nor have I ever smoked.  Sadly kids like me get talked down upon because we "don't do anything".  I've been called boring because I don't go out and get drunk and make stupid decisions.  And yes I do sometimes stop and think to myself, 'well what if I am that boring?  Is it bad that I don't go out and have fun?'  It's interesting that a lot of people say that we're young and we should go out and have fun.  What constitutes as fun though?  Does fun mean getting shit-faced and barely remembering the night before?  I have no clue, but no matter how many times people tell me to "have fun", I will tell them no.  Part of the reason is because I grew up with an alcoholic dad and I wouldn't want to replicate his behaviors.  Growing up, my mom was also strict with me and my sister so anything we did my mom would know about it.  On the other hand, if I were living with my dad right now I would probably be going out every weekend getting drunk.  For now, I'm trying to stay true to myself but at times I feel like I am boring and limiting myself.  Oh being a teenager...