Teachers & School Guide: Classroom Management and Peer Pressure

Classroom management is the technique by which teachers and schools create an environment to maintain the appropriate behaviour of students in classroom settings. Maintaining classroom management techniques enhances prosocial behaviour and increases student academic engagement. Effective classroom management requires warm behaviour of the teacher, general awareness, patience, good timing, boundaries, and instinct. There’s nothing easy about shepherding a large group of easily distractible young children with different skills and temperaments along a meaningful education journey. 

Effective classroom management techniques

Try to establish and sustains a learning environment in the classroom. Increases meaningful academic education and facilitates the social and emotional growth of children. Try to Decrease negative influence and increase time spent academically engaged.

Although effective classroom management produces many positive outcomes for students, the Chaotic classroom environments are a significant issue for teachers and can contribute to high-stress burnout rates. Therefore, using effective classroom management strategies at the universal level in a tested model is essential. They serve as both prevention and intervention methods that promote positive and effective outcomes for students.

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In a particular class, everyone has peers, and they can be your friends who are about your age and have similar interests and experiences. Peers can also be your classmates about your age and are involved in the same activities as you or are part of a community you belong to. You may not consider all of your peers to be friends, but they can all influence you and your daily activities.

So being a teacher, Encourage all students to help you build classroom expectations and rules, as you’ll generate more buy-in than just telling them what they’re not allowed to do.

This is essential for new teachers. Near the start of the new Academic year or during the first day of a semester, start a discussion by asking students what they believe should and shouldn’t fly inappropriate behaviour.

Peer pressure can have both positive and negative impacts. When peer pressure is positive, it pushes you towards your best. Negative peer pressure is when a friend or part of a group you belong to makes you feel that you have to do something or please others to be accepted. We generally think of this negative peer pressure when the phrase peer pressure is used. When you give in to negative peer pressure, you would often feel guilty or disappointed with yourself for being in a way that goes against your beliefs or values.

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Wanting to ‘fit in’ with a particular kind of people and be accepted by their peers is a powerful motivator for children to indulge in inappropriate, illegal activities and sometimes even dangerous behaviour. Cheating in exams, shoplifting, vandalizing public property, smoking, drinking and doing drugs, consuming alcohol, taking part in bullying or eve-teasing, having sex, etc., are all activities usually undertaken by the youth who want to fit in with the crowd and become famous. If these activities go undetermined by the parents, the children’s lives could go downward, and studies could go for a large toss. That is why it is essential to look out for concerning behaviours by children and educate them about peer pressure and how to overcome it. 

 Some examples of negative peer pressure are

• Strong urge to dress or act a certain way.
• Cheating or copying someone else’s work during the exam or letting others copy your work.
• Not including other people in social activities.
• Taking high risks when driving.
• Taking drugs or alcohol.
• Shoplifting or stealing while shopping.
• Engaging in wrong sexual activity.
• Engaging in cyberbullying.
• Projecting a wrong image on social media. 

Top tips for supporting your students

• Try to Promote positive peer pressure outcomes in your classroom.
• Talk calmly, openly, and honestly with your students about peer pressure and how they can use it for positive and negative outcomes. Please encourage your students to talk about their pressures to conform and discuss practical ways to manage this problem. 
• Give opportunities to students to practise their communication skills to manage negative peer pressure situations. Role-playing and using real-life situations are practical approaches to use.
• Try to Involve parents in discussions around peer pressure as They have an essential role in talking to their children about peer pressure.