INTRODUCTION

Peer groups are common among all students in school, especially in secondary schools as

students look forward in the stage of adolescence. Adolescents have always been exposed to peer

influence as it is the stage where they developed their ways of having friends and know better

who they really are. Peers have a powerful influence over youth outcomes, affecting behavioral

change via modeling, reinforcement, and collaborative learning (Harris, 1995). This means that

peers may foster positive and negative impacts to the youths, specifically to the students.

According to Castrogiovanni (2002), a peer group is defined as a small group of similarly

aged; fairly close friends, sharing the same activities. In general, peer groups or cliques have two

to twelve members, with an average of five or six. Peer groups provide a sense of security and

they help adolescents to build a sense of identity. Adolescents ask questions relating to social

identity theory such as, “Who am I?” and “What do I want out of life?” Feeling part of a group,

be it the stereotypical jocks, fun, or riddles, allows adolescents to feel like they are on the way to

answering some of these questions. Given that adolescents spend twice as much time with peers

as with parents or other adults, it is important to study the influence or pressures that peers place

on each other.

As such, peer groups provide sense of security and a sense of identity, therefore, it

provides motivation to young adults. Motivation is an intrapsychic construct and resides within

an individual. Such internal motivation is greater to the extent that children feel efficacious, view

the goals of school as focused on learning and improvement, attribute failures to effort, harbor

positive academic emotions and feelings of competence and self-esteem, expect success, value

school, and find academic tasks worthwhile (Wigfield, Eccles, Schiefele, Roeser, & Davis-Kean,

2006).
 However, peer groups may also lead to a negative outcome. As already cited above,

adolescents spend twice as much time with peers as with parents or other adults. This means that

students may become too dependent from their friends. Other studies show that adolescents may

adapt bad influence from their peers like defying parents, staying out past agreed upon times,

engaging in sexual activity, drinking alcohol prematurely or “experimenting” with drugs,

stealing or other crime-related behaviors that causes poor school performance like skipping

classes or homework assignments (cited in “Peer Pressure & Influence: How to Say “No” by Jeff

Packer MSW & Associations Inc.).

So far, it is assumed that peers can provide adolescents with comfort zones, thus, making

them more motivated in their school and academic performance. On the other side, it is also

assumed that peers can also bring adolescents into a more different world, thus, making them

discourage in their schools. Therefore, it is assumed that peer influence can have both positive

and negative effects to the students. This study is hereby relevant in looking at this concept and

proffer solutions and recommendations to the negative effects of peer groups to students’

academic performance.