Adolescence is a time when peers play an increasingly important role in young people's lives. Adolescents begin to develop friendships that are more intimate, exclusive, and more consistent than in previous years. In many ways, these friendships are an essential part of development. They provide safe places where young people can explore their identity, where they can feel accepted and where they can develop a sense of belonging. Friendships also allow young people to practice and develop the social skills necessary for future success. Still, parents and other adults may become concerned when they see their teens showing concern for their friends. Many parents worry that their teenagers will experience negative peer influence or reject their family's values ​​and beliefs, and that they will be pushed into high-risk or other negative behaviors. In reality, peer influence is more complex than our stereotype of children. negative influences from friends. First, peer influence can be both positive and negative. Although we tend to think that peer influence causes adolescents to engage in unhealthy and dangerous behaviors, it can actually motivate young people to study harder in school, volunteer for community and social services and participate in sports and other productive activities. In fact, most adolescents report that their peers pressure them not to use drugs or engage in sexual activity. Second, peer influence is not a simple process in which young people are passive recipients of the influence of others. In fact, peers who become friends tend to already have a lot in common. Peers with similar interests, similar academic achievements, and liking to do the same things tend to gravitate toward each other. So even though it seems that adolescents and their friends become middle of paper relationships, and deflect negative peer pressures and influences.Selected ReferencesBrown, BB (2004). Adolescents' relationships with their peers. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, 2nd edition (pp. 363-394). New York: Wiley. Brown, B.B. (1990). Peer groups and peer cultures. In SS Feldman and GR Elliott (eds.). On the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 171-198). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Brown, B.B. and Klute, C. (2006). Friendships, cliques and crowds. In GR Adams and MD Berzonsky (eds.). Blackwell's Handbook of Adolescence (pp. 330-348). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Steinberg, L. (2005). Adolescence. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Acknowledgments This publication is based in part on NebFact 211, “Adolescence and Peer Pressure” by Herbert G. Lingren, extension family specialist..