SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN CARRYING OUT RESEARCH INTO THE SOCIAL PRESSU...

27.

Sociologists have been carrying out research into the social pressures of being a teenager.

Many adolescents are unhappy at school because they find it difficult to (23)______

friends. This stress can bring on illness or result in poor grades. They may also worry

about their appearance and often feel (24)______ enormous pressure to dress, talk and

behave the same as (25)_____. This phenomenon is called peer pressure, and it is very

common in today’s society. Advertising contributes a lot to the social pressures teenagers

feel. Advertisers know how important it is to feel that you belong to a group when you

are in your teens, so they try to persuade teenagers that certain products will make them

(26)______ with their classmates. Sadly, many teenagers act irresponsibly and even do

dangerous things just to make others accept them. Peer pressure is often the reason for

teenage smoking, drug (27)______ or dangerous driving. Teenagers need to learn to say

“no” to social pressure and to find friends who they can talk things over with when they

have a problem.