You may have spent your entire young life following the rules and priding yourself in knowing better than to drink alcohol while underage. You’ve passed all of your health class exams regarding the dangers of drinking with flying colors and you were genuinely upset while having to watch that film on teenage drunk driving. You’ve been confident in your ability to resist falling into the inevitable pressures of drinking at parties, but you never expected that pressure to come from your friends.

More than likely, someone you know is going to experiment with alcohol before the legal age. When that day comes, if it hasn’t already, they may want you to try it with them. Saying “no” doesn’t come as easy when you’re turning down someone you’re close with. Will they get mad at you? Will you seem uncool? Should you just try a little bit? Maybe it’s best to leave the party altogether? The confidence in your ability to resist can quickly dissipate when the pressure is on. It’s completely normal to question yourself and everything you think is right when you’re caught in a moment as tempting and as scary as this one. There are however a few things you can do to quickly assess the situation.

Ask yourself, ‘are these your real friends’?

True friends will respect a simple “no” and back off once your answer is given. If these are your buddies through thick and thin, you shouldn’t have to question the outcome of your social life from this scenario.

What does your gut say?

You’ve been educated on the dangers, the legal ramifications, the negative impact on your health and well-being, and let’s be real, your parents will be pretty upset if they find out. Instincts can really come in handy.

Be realistic with the risks

Think about all of the things that can go wrong from accepting alcohol underage. The potential negative outcomes are endless and should be flashing through your head like a movie reel. Is “looking cool” worth any of those?

We fall into the traps of peer pressure because we get stuck in a moment of popular vs. unpopular, in the clique vs. an outsider. Do your best to take a glance at the bigger picture. After all, that moment of being torn is really all it is… a moment.