Peer Support

Up until a certain point of adolescence, the influence of parents has the strongest effect on development. Then peer influence becomes stronger as a teenager's peer group grows. Within a school child's peer group are cliques and crowds. A clique is an adolescent's group of close friends, the one's they are loyal to. A clique excludes outsiders. The larger group of teenagers who have something in common with an individual is called the crowd. These people are not however, friends, they are what some call acquaintances. The crowd is a group with one common interest; nerds, jocks, and skaters. When choosing friends, children look for people who share a common interest. Peers have a major effect on development, whether that be positive or negative. Peer pressure is the encouragement to model the behavior of another. It is usually seen as a negative force, teens defy authority. Another thing peers take part in is deviancy training. This is a negative peer force that shows how to rebel against society.