Peer Pressure
by Karl Nova
The fear of being left out is what it’s all about
No one wants to get laughed at or be the odd one out
No one likes to feel rejected put down and dejected
we all love to feel accepted, we’re all affected
but you have to learn to be your own person
just be yourself and aim to be your best version
You’re not a robot programmed to follow without thinking
just acting brainless with empty eyes blinking
I understand the pressure it doesn’t stop as you grow
It’s natural to follow where everyone goes
and sometimes it’s ok to go with the flow
but other times you have to swim against the tide and so
you’ll have to say no, when everyone says yes
and be firm with your choice deep in your chest
and overcome that fear of being left out
because that’s what peer pressure is really all about
© Karl Nova from Rhythm and Poetry, (Caboodle Books)
REFLECTION
'Peer Pressure' is a poetry by hip hop artist and poet Karl Nova. This poetry was published in his anthology 'Rythm and Poetry' in 2017.
As stated in its title, Karl Nova talks about his perspective on peer pressure. He describes it as "the fear of being left out" and the "love to be accepted." Although the poetry uses vocabularies that are easy to understand, the poet still manages to express the message in a very interesting way
The first five lines of the poetry describe what the poet thinks peer pressure is and why we fall for it. Because we are social creatures who constantly interact with each other, we feel the need to fit in and to be accepted, that way we can live our life peacefully. The poet embraces this concept by saying how "no one wants to get laughed at" and "no one wants to feel rejected", this means that everyone experience the same thing and we are not the only who struggle with peer pressure. In the next line, the poet talks about how everyone want to feel accepted. In a social interaction, you need to "click" with the other person you are interacting to and often times, the reason why we are able to build connection with other people is because we have some things in common. Someone who is deemed as different might get rejected socially because they don't "click" enought with the society.
Although the poet understands the reasoning behind peer pressure, he doesn't believe that we should fall for it. He describes how everyone should be able to form their own identity instead of becoming a "robot to follow without thinking." The idea that society has made us humans "robots" are very popular in contemporary artists, I have seen a lot of different version of this phrase. This line in particular makes me think about what peer pressure has made us, has peer pressure affect us so much that we are not a human anymore? Have we become a robot because of it?
Personally, I think that see human as a creature who has the independence to think and to act. The word "programmed" has the implication that someone does it for us, but humans are fully capable of making decision on their own, presenting themselves just the way they wanted it to be, we have to right and the ability to be our own person and because of that, we are all different. Robots, on the other hand, are not capable of this, at least if they are not programmed to do so. Moreover, robots are often mass produced to serve a certain function, even if they do vary, they don't vary the same way that humans do. But because of peer pressure, because we know we'll get rejected we are different, we follow each other around without thinking, we lose the uniqueness that we naturally had. Arguably, we become a robot.
By the end of the poetry, the poet encourages us to not get swayed away by peer pressure. Even though it's undeniable, thus it's alright to sometimes "go with the flow" as poet wrote, we should be able to stand on our own. As the poet wrote "but other times you have to swim against the tide", the way against peer pressure will be really difficult, but it's better than losing our uniqueness and humanity. Thus, we should be able to choose a different path when it's the right to do, even if we have to walk that path alone.
REFERENCE
Nova, K. (2017). Peer Pressure from Rhythm and Poetry (Poetry Caboodle) (None ed.). Caboodle Books Ltd.
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