The Breakdown: It's not always bad. Peer pressure usually has a negative connotation attatched to it. It's true that it might lead someone to doing something they normally wouldn't, and shouldn't do, but there are also positive ends of the spectrum.

You don't even have to try to find things on the negative aspects of peer pressure, but what about the good things? The wonderful things? The things that make the world a better place to live in? For example, if Donny is going to get in a fight with James, but Lola, Donny's girlfriend, asks Donny not to and gives him reasons, Donny might decide to forget about the possible altercation and go on with his life. Lola intervened without actually putting a gun to Donny's head and making him do something. Or maybe community service. Someone might want to feel welcome somewhere, try to fit in, so they do things for their community to help out and meet people at the same time. If a group of friends do something, you wouldn't want to feel left out. Like if the go to a shelter to feed the homeless, and it's the whole clique excluding you, it wouldn't feel right, so you go to be with them. Perhaps it's the wrong reasons for doing so, but who knows if the sentiment might change after a while.

Sex, drugs and alcohol too. Those usually go hand in hand with peer pressure, but every one fails to mention that sometimes our friends are the reasons why we don't. You wouldn't want to be the only one, and if you notice, the more and more you do that, you being hanging around a different crowd and slowly drift away from your original group. They remain sober while you don't. You might realize after a while that it isn't for you and go back.