Peerdiocy

Today’s article basically comes from a conversation I was having yesterday about the current generation of less than 20 year olds. Today’s word is a descriptive term I have invented for this particular subject matter. The word is a combination of Peer and Idiocy. We all know what a peer is right? We also know what idiocy is correct? Well, just for safety’s sake, the definition of idiocy is: utterly senseless or foolish behavior. Ok, now we are all on the same page about the origins of the words. My definition of peerdiocy describes how peer pressure is intertwined with idiocy. Our young people of the world are under enormous pressure from their local peer group, community peer group, and also worldwide peer group. Yes, worldwide. The internet and advancements in communication have allowed for a worldwide peer group to have “power.”

Sure, our past generations have all followed and engaged in idiotic behavior while growing up (and some during adulthood), but the times have changed. Young people test their limits no matter what day and age. It’s a growth stage most are required to go through on their way to maturity. However, today’s behavior has been altered. No longer are our young people faced with limit testers such as simplistic dares, fighting, racing, or various other “activities.” Today, we see kids pushing the limits like they have never been pushed. The sense of self and preservation of life seem to have taken a distant backseat in their young lives. Peerdiocy reigns amongst their social existence. We have seen an onslaught of television programs, internet videos, and the list can go on, displaying how far people will go to achieve the one true goal peerdiocy looks to satisfy. The root goal is acceptance.

If you have read some of my prior articles, I come back to acceptance quite a bit. Acceptance is the key to the young person’s world. Without acceptance, most will view themselves as outcasts or unworthy citizens. It’s a sad, but true fact. Even during adulthood, acceptance is a major contributor to our personal wellbeing and comfort level. We are social beings and being such, acceptance within the community is of utmost priority. Now, our current day and age seems to have removed any constraints to just how far our young generation will go to fulfill their desires of acceptance. They will succumb to the most outrageous, dangerous, and idiotic suggestions offered by their peers. Our media has done nothing to help the situation. In fact, I believe they promote this behavior because not only does it make millions for them in the form of programming, but it has turned out a few movies to boot. There are several internet sites dedicated to the actions our young people do. Oh, and these sites also pay for content but they are the ones making the money due to advertisement revenue. Outside of the media and online pressure, we also see major pressure from every corner our kids live in.

With the advent of social networking sites online, worldwide peerdiocy has increased. In the past, your local or community peer groups were generally the only people you needed to “satisfy” to become accepted. However, now with social networking online, people are faced with a worldwide peer group. Most adults can’t withstand the pressure of a worldwide peer group looking upon them, how do we think an undeveloped and immature mind can handle the situation? Our young generation is under more pressure than we could ever have imagined during our younger years. While we would engage in idiotic behavior to satisfy our peer groups, we had a very limited arena to satisfy. If we were the most daring of the group, that was our thing. If we were the bully who liked to fight, we were accepted as such. If we liked to race, then people looked at you differently. But, during those years, we were satisfied with the acceptance of our groups and we had limits to just how far we would go. In the end, we cared more about self preservation than acceptance.

Well, that sounds like a pretty simple statement. Of course we cared more about being alive than being accepted. Being accepted and not being alive to “enjoy” it as the alternative doesn’t have much cache now does it? Our new generations appear to have misplaced this very poignant fact. Be alive first, be accepted somewhere down the line. The fear of death or severe injury has been replaced with acceptance in a vast majority of our young people’s lives. They would rather die than be viewed as an outcast. It means THAT much to them. Their worlds revolve around the simple fact that they care more about what other people think about them than what they think about themselves. Peerdiocy is the term describing the situation, but in the end, the individual makes the decision.

Peers have power, but only if you allow it. Idiocy is in all of our young and adult lives, but only to an extent. Once idiocy reaches a point of possible death or severe injury, it has become something else. What you are then dealing with is lunacy. Another word for it is insanity. People have become insanely focused upon receiving acceptance from their peers. They will DO ANYTHING at ANYTIME if it serves their need to prove to their world how far they will go. How far will they go for acceptance? They will readily place their life or health on the line to satisfy the requirements of their peer groups. Sure, there were some people in the past generations who fit this bill, but they were the rare ones. The rare ones these days are the ones who defy their peer groups’ needs and set defined lines in regards to how far they will go in the journey for acceptance.

How do we bring back sanity to peer groups? How can we alter the psychological and physical environment for the younger generation so that peerdiocy doesn’t irreparably harm them? I believe, as with most things, it starts in the home. Parents need to be involved with their children on a personal level. We do not need to be policemen at all times in their lives. We need to be their friends. We do not need to be the judge, jury, and executioner at all times. We need to be their source of support and comfort. We need to be their caregivers. Parents and we imply a very distinct fact. The home NEEDS both the father and the mother to be active in the lives of our young people. If we can nurture a young mind that feeds less upon acceptance and more on truly living, then we can successfully counter the desires that our peer groups force upon us.

Citation: http://www.dictionary.com/