Pick Peers Who Encourage Academic Excellence
April 122010
The quality and nature of these friendships have the greatest impact on student adjustment toward school. Because these at-risk youth are spending more time with their peers, as time progresses, close relationships begin to develop. This fact may present a challenge if those students who do perform well academically find themselves caught in a bind between blending in with their friends or doing well. A major component of academic achievement cited by Steinberg, Dornbusch and Brown was affiliation with peer groups who stressed academic excellence and positive work habits. The authors also point out that for those students most at-risk, their friendships are not characterized in this fashion.