Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to all the respected judges,

teachers and my fellow friends.

My name is ……………………………….. from SK Taman Bukit Dahlia, and today I will

be focusing on answering the question, what can I do if my friend is having
issues like peer pressure.

According to Macmillan English Dictionary the latest Edition peer pressure is a

direct influence to an individual. They want to feel as a part of the group and
will try to change themselves just to be conformed and accepted into a group.
As a result the attitude, behaviour and values of the individual will drastically
change.

There are 6 types of peer pressure which are spoken peer pressure, unspoken
peer pressure, direct peer pressure, indirect peer pressure, positive peer
pressure and lastly negative peer pressure.

But for today, I will be focusing on negative peer pressure. Let me give a few
examples of negative peer pressure. They are, needing to act in a certain way,
cheating in a test, skipping school, and convincing people not to be friends
with someone.

Moving to the focus of my speech, what can I do if my friend is feeling peer

pressure? In order to help my friend, I will advise some strategies to them on
how to handle negative peer pressure.
For a start, I will advise my friend to pay attention on how they feel. If
something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Even though they seem to be
alright with what’s going on, the situation may not be right for them. Other
than that, I will help my friend to plan on how to respond to different situation.
I will help them to create an excuse without explaining or apologising.

Have you ever been pressured by your friends to do something you really don’t
want to do? Saying “no” is always difficult. So, I will guide my friend on the
best way to say “no”. “No” should always mean “no” but if your friends don’t
take the hint, look them in the eyes and be stern when you say “no”.

Next, I will get some support from adults such as parents or school counsellor.
Adults can listen and help with other strategies that might work in our
situation.

Last but not least, I will talk to my friend and let them know how I feel and tell
them to stop. I will try to apply my own positive pressure on them. Applying
positive pressure such as encouraging my friend to study more can result in
them actually doing it.

I hope I will be able to help my friend with what I can afford. That’s all from
me. Thank you for lending me your ears.