Parent Guide > Students' Work Ethic Affected by Peer Groups, Desire to Be Popular

by Shankar Vedantam 2015

Welcome to the parent guide for this text! Read below to find out about what your child is reading in class and how you can support him/her at home.

This week in class, we’re reading "Students' Work Ethic Affected by Peer Groups, Desire to Be Popular" by Shankar Vedantam.

The text, transcribed from an original NPR interview segment, reports on the social pressure students feel to be popular in school as well as new research suggesting that among teens, peer pressure and popularity can have significant effects on education.

As we read, we will be discussing the theme of Social Pressure as it relates to the text. We are trying to answer this big question :

"What are the effects of following the crowd?"

Ways to support your child:

  • Ask your child about this interview at home:
    • What was "Students' Work Ethic Affected by Peer Groups, Desire to Be Popular" about?
    • What did you learn about Social Pressure?
  • Watch Asch Conformity Experiment at home with your child.