"Have you ever been manipuated? How would you know?"
In November, we began to formulate project ideas for Symposium 2021. Many ideas came our way but at last we settled on our favourite, “Have you ever been manipulated? How would you know?” This topic appealed to us the most as in this day and age manipulation surrounds us both in large and small scales.
So, what exactly is manipulation? The Oxford Dictionary puts it as the ‘disapproving behaviour that controls or influences somebody/something, often in a dishonest way so that they do not realize it.’ When we think of manipulation, our mind immediately wanders to emotional manipulation i.e., peer pressure and bullying. However, it can occur on a much larger scale. We are constantly being manipulated by advertisers who manipulate our emotions to make us purchase a product, that we certainly don’t need! Politicians manipulate voters in order to win votes and influence their opinions. Manipulation is all around us and we wanted to take a deeper look at this subject and how it affects our everyday lives.
Peer pressure and bulllying Peer Pressure. By definition it is the direct influence on people by peers or the effect on an individual who is encouraged and wants to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviours to conform with those individual groups. In school, we are told about it all the time and the harrowing effect it can have on other people. Our actions and our words can either influence those around us for better or for worse. On average 15 is the peak age for peer pressure, at the age of 18 teens become better at setting boundaries. In a study carried out by Parent Further on peer pressure, it stated: Only 10% of the surveyed teenagers had said no when they were faced with peer pressure. Peer pressure can come in many forms some may call you names some may push you into something you do not want to do.
