SAFE BY DESIGN · EPISODE 13

Everyone Else Is Doing It

Peer pressure rarely sounds like pressure. It sounds like a joke, a deadline and the word everyone.

Tara was on the sofa after school with her maths homework on her knees and her phone face down beside her. It had been buzzing for ten minutes, the way it only buzzes when the whole class is in the same chat at once.

Riya, at the dining table, heard it stop and start, stop and start. Then she noticed Tara had stopped writing.

Someone had taken a photo of Rohan from their class, asleep on the school bus with his mouth open, and added a caption. Then everyone had added their own. The latest messages were cheerful and quick: everyone's done one, Tara, your turn, and then, it's just a joke, don't be boring.

“If everyone's already shared it, does it even matter if I do?”

Tara, 13