Peer pressure backfires

PEER pressure is a big problem in Namibia and people tend to take it for granted.

It is one of the main causes for drug abuse; teenage pregnancies

and even suicides among young people, and, let us not forget the

spread of HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.

I am writing this letter is to encourage those young people of

today who are resisting all this pressure - and I know what I am

talking about.

 

Peer pressure is mainly concentrated in schools - especially

high schools.

 

To get to the point, I am currently an 18-year-old matriculant

so I will be done with school in a months time.

 

If I follow my friends' wrong-doings, I see that most of them

indulge in alcohol, party all the time.

 

Let us face the facts.

 

With all that clubbing, they ended up either pregnant or a grade

behind me.

 

So what I want to do, is to encourage the youth to believe in

themselves so they will stop harming themselves.

 

They should try this experiment and watch their friends like I

have and they will see them self-destructing.

 

And people can never change who you are except if you let them,

and then - in the long run - you are harming yourself.

 

I have managed to resist these temptations, but I am still alive

and happy, whereas those who fail are not so happy.

 

Remember this is your sole responsibility.

 

If you do not start taking good advice you will end up a

statistic with HIV/Aids, a drug addict or in prison.

 

So make the right choice as you read this and if you choose the

right path you will not regret it.

 

All the best wishes to the grade 12s of this year in Namibia and

good luck after school life.

 

- Charles Mbeha - Windhoek

 

I am writing this letter is to encourage those young people of

today who are resisting all this pressure - and I know what I am

talking about. Peer pressure is mainly concentrated in schools -

especially high schools. To get to the point, I am currently an

18-year-old matriculant so I will be done with school in a months

time. If I follow my friends' wrong-doings, I see that most of them

indulge in alcohol, party all the time. Let us face the facts. With

all that clubbing, they ended up either pregnant or a grade behind

me. So what I want to do, is to encourage the youth to believe in

themselves so they will stop harming themselves. They should try

this experiment and watch their friends like I have and they will

see them self-destructing. And people can never change who you are

except if you let them, and then - in the long run - you are

harming yourself. I have managed to resist these temptations, but I

am still alive and happy, whereas those who fail are not so happy.

Remember this is your sole responsibility. If you do not start

taking good advice you will end up a statistic with HIV/Aids, a

drug addict or in prison. So make the right choice as you read this

and if you choose the right path you will not regret it. All the

best wishes to the grade 12s of this year in Namibia and good luck

after school life.- Charles Mbeha - Windhoek

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