“Mum, there are twenty four students in my class.” “Twenty have some of the latest design of phones.” “Although, most of them do not bring the phones out during lecture, but at break period, they do.” ‘’The chats, pings all seem endless, I wish I had a mobile phone.” John said. Stacy, John’s younger sister looked in his direction and quickly looked away giggling. Harriet, John’s mum didn’t alter a word. She kept her eyes glued to the book she was reading. John continued mumbling to himself and was about walking out of the room when his mum looked up and beckoned on him to come sit beside her.
John expected his mum to start her usual sermon on “dos and don’ts” but, to his amazement she didn’t. Instead, she smiled at him and said you deserve much more than that my dear. John was taken aback and wondered while his mum wasn’t upset with his desire to have a cell phone. Harriet reached into her bag and brought out a parcel which she handed over to John and watched him unwrapped it. John looked at the content of the parcel with admiration. It was a smart phone. Just what he has been craving for. He gave his mum a big hug and kept admiring his gift. Harriet looked on and kept smiling to herself too. Stacy also was caught in the web of admiration of his brother new gift.
Harriet stood up to go check if the rice she was preparing for dinner was cooked. The doorbell rang almost simultaneously and she asked Stacy to go see who was at the door. Stacy screamed with excitement as soon as she opened the door. Uncle Dave and his wife, Sarah walked in beaming with smiles. “Stacy, what has your mum been feeding you with?” Uncle Dave asked. “You are as tall as me now,” he added. John also stood up to greet Uncle Dave and his wife. Harriet came out of the kitchen to welcome the couple. “Thanks Sarah for taking good care of this my little rascal.” She said. Uncle Dave looked at Harriet and said “ha big sister!” After they have exchanged pleasantries, Harriet led them to the dinning. While at the dinning, John was still basking in the euphoria of his new phone. Uncle Dave looked at him and said, “John you remind me so much of things I did at your age, some not so nice though.” “Thank God, I finally escaped from the crowd, wondered what my life would have been now.” Uncle Dave added. “Hmm, the crowd?” Stacy queried.
Uncle Dave then went further to explain what he meant by the crowd to John and Stacy. The crowd are people who are of same age group with you who either directly or indirectly influence your behaviour. You are pressured to act and do things the way they do. You sometimes feel odd and not in tune with reality. In a bid to be counted as sociable, you inadvertently start behaving like the crowd. You want to dress like them, talk like them, hang out in some odd places like they do. In fact, the list is endless. I remembered an occasion where I had to scale over the fence to see a movie with some of my peers. I was about to take my O’ levels exam then. I also played lots of pranks on my parents in order to be considered smart by my peers. Looking back now, I see how foolish those behaviours of mine was, Uncle Dave said. At this point, John and Stacy were impatience to know how Uncle Dave escaped from the crowd. Uncle Dave smiled and said all he had to do was to rediscover his true self through commitment to positive living. That is, change of association (friends), focus more on his dreams and above all a desire to please God. You too can become a source of positive influence to your peers by making the decision to live right. Don’t let your friends choose you! You carefully select whom you will associate with. Start by seeking to please God always with all you have, especially your body. Focus on your dreams! Pay close attention to your studies and never allow anything jeopardise your God-given dreams. “Let me pause here for now,” Uncle Dave said. John and Stacy thanked him and looked forward to having a tete-a-tete (private discussion) with Uncle Dave soon.
Joy Obehi-Ayemhere
Escape from the Crowd: Dealing with Peer Pressure
