Employee_of_the_Year_2001_-_Inland_Revenue

Pet Seminar On Friday March 25,2011, I attended Faith Baptist Church at Flankers where Mrs Campbell was presenting on the topic , “Peer Pressure”. I am happy I went because I learnt a lot. I learnt that peer pressure is not only pressure from one’s peers to behave in a similar manner but it is also the influence of social groups on an individual. I have also learnt many ways how to respond to negative peer pressure. Some ways are; listen to your guts, learn to feel comfortable saying “no” and be yourself, make your own decisions regardless of what others think. Most importantly I learnt three points about good peer pressure. 1. Being pushed into something that you didn’t have the courage to do or it didn’t cross your mind to do. 2. Can be a situation when your friends convince you not to do something you were going to do because it wasn’t in anyone’s best interest. 3. Is when you get pushed into something that you didn’t want to do and it turned out well. I was enlightened when I learnt that there are some benefits of good peer pressure. For example, you can overcome a fear, learn something new, avoid breaking the law, avoid getting into trouble with your parents and avoid endangering your health. There are some things we can do to help teens /students deal with peer pressure. We can make them aware of some pressures they may encounter. We can also demonstrate the difference between positive and negative peer pressure and provide suggestions and strategies to help them deal with peer pressure. For example, ask them questions and allow them to think. Then identify the negative behavior or actions, evaluate the consequences then suggest alternatives. You can also make a joke to change the subject or just leave the area. As long as we know who we are and make God the center of our being then we will be able to overcome peer pressure. As we all know that bad peer pressure leads to teen age pregnancies. This topic was presented on Saturday April10, 2011 by Mrs. Winter Davis at the Faith Baptist Church. This topic was like a refresher to me but I learnt some new facts as she presented. I have learnt that the rate of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica is among the highest in the Caribbean. I was appalled because I believe that the youths are being educated. I myself did some presentations in communities and youth services on many occasions. I believe that these teens who are getting pregnant do so because they are curious and do not fully understand what relationship is as many of them lack love, structured activities and acceptance which will help them realize their hidden potentials and creative abilities. These traits will help them realizes their dreams, feel a sense of belonging and this will help them to make better decisions. I agree with her that our society and economy are feeling the effect of teenage pregnancies, because there is a large labour force of young girls who are uneducated. The government is spending a lot on welfare and after school programs to educate these teen so they will be able to work and provide for themselves and their families. Teenage pregnancies have become a complex and multi- faceted problem. I don’t believe in giving teen condoms but with this problem on the rise I need to get more involved in the distribution of condoms which might save some of our teens. I have also learnt the ABC prevention strategies of teen pregnancy: A – abstinence- this is the surest way of not getting pregnant B- behavior – our behavior towards the pressure will have consequences- positive or negative. C- choice – it is our choice to choose to have sex or not She also stated that young people can get help from their church families when they are tempted and she implored the church family to be there for the teen and encourage them through the Bible. If they feed on the word of God, He will help them abstain and keep themselves pure.