The very first movie that I ever saw with Mr. Sweet was WAY back in 1983. The movie was entitled A CHRISTMAS STORY, and I'm pretty sure all of you have seen it. It usually plays 24/7 every holiday season. It is the story of Ralphie Parker, a nerdy young boy, with the sole quest of owning a "Red Ryder" bb gun. Throughout the film, Ralphie is shown as a lovable and likeable young tike, and everyone wants him to get the present, despite the fact that he might "shoot his eye out"! My favorite scene from the movie involves one of Ralphie's buddies, Flick, and the dreaded "
triple dog dare." Flick's "friends"
to persuade him to stick his tongue to a frozen flagpole, just off the school playground. As the suspense builds, Flick "flicks" out his tongue, and accepts the dare. Of course, his tongue sticks tightly, and his "friends" scatter quickly, as he screams and squirms in pain. His cries of "DON'T LEAVE ME," go unheard as the group of friends scurry back into the classroom. Flick eventually is freed, although he requires the services of the fire department. As the teacher asks if anyone in the class is responsible, all of the students try their best to appear innocent. It wasn't their fault that Flick had a sudden lapse of judgment, and stuck his tongue to a flagpole! Or was it?
We've all experienced peer pressure, or friends trying to get us to do something that maybe we should not do. Perhaps, we've even been the friend trying to
pressure or
persuade someone to do something wrong. They are our friends, and we want them to remain our friends; yet, we want to do the right thing too. We are often so confused as to what we really SHOULD do!
Middle school and high school are times when so many students falter and fold under the weight of peer pressure. From the temptations of cheating, gossiping or lying, doing the wrong things on social media or the internet, getting involved with drugs or alcohol to any number of other serious issues, we need to think before we act!
Young people -- and older people -- can sometimes do damage to their lives, their character, and their reputation. This damage cannot be easily undone. Why do we do things like this? Why do we let others influence our word and our actions? Why do we act one way at home, but in a totally different way with our friends? We know our parents wouldn't approve of our actions, but we do it anyway. Our friends are important to us, but is someone that REALLY tries to persuade us to do wrong, REALLY our friend?
Why do we continue to hang around "friends" that seem to always encourage us to do the wrong things? Do we REALLY need to "fit in" that badly? How can we overcome the odds and stand up to those people who try to get us to do those things? How can we steer clear of peer pressure that is going to eventually damage us?
Please respond to these questions in AT LEAST THREE COMPLETE SENTENCES for three (3) extra credit points. This blog will close at midnight on Thursday, 9/10/2015.
Think about these questions and respond well! As always -- write on!
