Today's youth face pressures from many unprecedented factors, not only peers 2. The face of peer pressure is changing for this generation, in keeping with the many other societal changes they must address. I think this generation today might be the most challenged since the industrial revolution. Recent studies support the common sense judgment that adolescents today are facing a different world than even one generation ago. Young people are spending more time with peers, with very little regular interaction with adults.
Teenagers have more freedom in their own lives than previous generations of young people.
They have greater freedom of choice regarding friends, school commitments, sexual activity and career paths. The mass media industry exposes adolescents to a much broader range of experiences, influencing young people in ways that are still under study. The peer culture in most U.S. high schools is working against the goals of parents, according to Zill's study. Parents report that they do not want their teenagers to smoke or drink, yet the majority of high school students have friends at school who think these activities are okay. More than 80 percent of high school students can easily get cigarettes at school and almost half have no problem getting alcohol.