peer communication

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Witaya would make a good rhetorician.

Ethos? His peers were impressionable teens who looked up to him as an elder brother and believed his preaching.

Logos? They were almost convinced that they would resurrect as slayers for the coming World War 3 against "demons".

Pathos? They were all passionate about the idea. Till the last minute.

All checked. That's how the suicide pact was made.

All of them were still undergoing secondary school education, the youngest being 12 and the oldest 17 at that time. At this phase of life, a teen undergoes a tremendous transition, both physically and psychologically. They tend to become more susceptible to the influences and pressures from their peers as compared to that from their parents. Despite educating teens about rejecting negative peer influences, it is still very prevalent in our society.

Why so?

Most teens will very much want to be accepted by their peers as they are going through the awkward phase of puberty and are having insecurities about themselves. Hence, by being integrated into a group or a clique, having shared roles, rules and a common identity will make them feel more socially accepted and also gain recognition among their peers will also in turn, help them to come to terms with who they are. However, they might sometimes get too absorbed into the 'role' allocated to them and thus, fail to discern situations for themselves.

They seemed to be ‘brainwashed’ at that moment, whereby they simply believed in anything Witaya said, instead of truly having experiencing it themselves. The youngest boy, Ben, never knew what slayers meant or what signifies the rituals and meditations carried, he was basically going with the flow - they conform to their groups’ cultures and norms, through the social constructive perspective of things.

Suicide isn’t solely just a clinical problem; the surrounding environment plays a huge part in triggering it as well. Apparently, some time before the pact was made, Witaya’s parents underwent a divorce. He had once mentioned suicide. This mentality could possibly have sparked his beliefs of a battle between ‘demons’, in thinking that they would resurrect as a slayer – it depicts that he was seeking an important role in enforcing justice. Also, Witaya’s grandmother used to be a medium, and molded her beliefs, attitudes and cultures into Witaya’s psychological perspective of matters, who then in turn reached out to his friends through his preaching and extending his help with their troubles.

As much as a child should be guilty for his own misdoings, the negligence of a parent will have to be blamed for as well. Shouldn’t the parents be more sensitive towards the signs that might show their engagement in activities that might affect their results and also, pay more attention to their activities outside of school – to prevent such a tragedy from even having to take on a plan to begin with!

Peer influence has integrated so greatly in our current society - we want an identity and image to associate ourselves with. I am sure everyone at a certain point of time has been exposed to a negative influence or pressure and may or may not have fought it off. So what are you guilty of?