Everywhere you look there is something considered cool to wear or look like. Magazines are caked full with sayings like “Orange, the new pink?” or “Plaid is the fad”. Everywhere we go fashion takes its toll. Whether it is skinny jeans or tube tops people jump through hoops to meet the fashion criteria.

One thing many don’t see is how affects people. It might be the sad little girl being made fun of because of her ponytails or the depressive teen victim of mockery because of her lack of Abercrombie or Hollister. The self confidence of the ridiculed drops into the negatives. Why? Society feel the overwhelming need to pick at people and chip away at there self esteem until they are miserable. Some might say, “Well we like this ‘stuff’! You have no right to say we shouldn’t have it!” You should have whatever you so desire, but you shouldn’t make others feel bad because they don’t have it. What right do YOU have to peer pressure? None!

Tests show that teens are more anxious and stressed over social rankings than school! Acceptance and fashion are bound so tightly that kids are struggling. Why buy an ugly pair of $80 jeans that look awful? Because they are cool, that’s why.

It’s the age old story about “being yourself” and “they aren’t your friends if they don’t like you for you” thing. Hmmmm… Maybe parents are getting at something! Be yourself. Diving headfirst into petty expectations, like fashion, can make you lose your true self.

No one deserves the torment of peer pressure. You can’t see it but rejection hollows a person. It obliterates self-assurance. Fashion is not enough cause for this suffering and yet it is used. Take a stand against the requirement for designer jeans and be you. Overthrow the hierarchy of the mockers. Who wants to be a cardboard cutout? Most of those “rocking outfits” in magazines are partially Photo-Shopped anyway. People would rather know you than a copy of someone else. Do you seriously want to be the class clone?