How do peers influence children's attitudes and values?

Peers communicate attitudes and values in areas ranging from the importance of schoolwork to definitions of right and wrong (Crossnoe, 2011; Park & Clark-Stewart, 2011). Our choice of friends predicts grades, involvement in school, and even behaviour problems (Matjasko, Needham, Grunden, & Farb, 2010). If peer groups are academically oriented, they promote effort and achievement, but if they reject school values, students are more likely to cut classes, skip school, cheat, and even use drugs. The academic climate in classes in the same school can differ dramatically depending on the dominant peer groups in a particular classroom (Rubin et al., 2010).