Peer pressure has always been a problem among children, teenagers, and even young adults. What is seen is usually copied. Either through choice, or through peer pressure. This peer pressure is one of the major contributors to underage drinking and the beginnings of alcoholism. With an overwhelming desire to fit in teenagers fall to peer pressure and alcoholism because very easily. The need to be liked in today's society is a large portion of what makes young teenagers react the way that they do. Even in young adults, the desire to either look cool to their peers, or for the opposite sex, can drive them to do things that they normally would not. Peer pressure among friends is much stronger than pressure from strangers, and even family. The influence of family can be quickly overruled when it comes to friends pressuring each other to do something. Today's generation has a need to differentiate themselves from parents, thus peer pressure is much more dangerous. In a 2001 survey, it was shown that up to 40% of Canada's tenth grade students had taken a drink of alcohol in the previous year. Many of these teens, drank even younger than their ninth-grade year. This was shown to be because of peer pressure from friends, or influences in the movie and music industries. Not succumbing to peer pressure brings along several problems. One of the biggest reasons that teens begin to drink at a young age is because of the verbal abuse they take when they refuse. Being pressured at a party, at a friend's home, or even sneaking alcohol out of their own home, is what many teens face weekly. Those that hold out, and refuse, are berated by their friends. Eventually, they succumb under the pressure. Following behind the verbal abuse is physical beatings. When friends react violently towards each other because they do not participate in the same activities, there is already a problem of addictive behavior. A problem, that can be attributed to peer pressure, is the rising rate of teen pregnancies. Not only are young people pressured to drink alcohol, but are then entering into a larger world of drugs and unprotected sex. If they can be pressured into one thing, then the pressuring does not cease. There are two major types of peer pressure that teens undergo today. The first is through active peer pressure where the person is invited to drink, invited to a party, asked to take part in the cool drinking games, or just to hang out. Another form is passive pressure. This is the direct link between wanting to fit in and being alone. Knowing the signs that the teenager shows will help to determine the risk of peer pressure alcoholism and prevent it. Some signs are hesitancy to go to school, reclusive behavior, and sudden change in friends, wanting to have more money, or staying out later than they should. Treatment programs for alcohol addiction in Canada can be of a good help to make you cope better with peer pressure and life in general.