Some people may think that teachers are more influential to their students. However, as an old adage says, " Friends are the best teachers", and it is obvious that students are influenced more by their mates than by their teachers. This is because students spend much of their time with friends and they also feel peer pressure.
First of all, students spend more time with their friends than their teachers. It is no exaggeration to say that students are always with their friends. To be specific, students are hanging around and studying together in schools. Friends are the ones whom they meet the most. Therefore, they share some lasting memories together. For instance, whenever I think of my teenage, I am reminded of my highschool friends. My friends and I studied together and competed with each other. However, we also shared our feelings toward unpredictable future. We cried and smiled together during those years. I cannot imagine myself without them and my shared experiences with them. With my personal experience, I believe that friends are the ones who have the biggest impact on students.
In addition, students are affected greatly by peer pressure as well. They feel some kind of obligation to mimic their friends. Young people often feel that they are falling behind when they do not follow their friends' trend. This peer pressure is greater than any influence of teachers'. For example, there was a heated debate over the boom of expensive jackets among students in Korea. Korean young adults were attacted to the expensive jackets produced by a foreign brand. Then, they bought the jackets and wore it as it was their uniform. Those who cannot afford to buy the jackets felt depressed because they were often humiliated by their friends. They also felt pity of themselves as they could not afford the jacket. Some of them even stole money from stores to buy the jacket or forced their parents to buy one for them. It was a representitive phenomenon of peer pressure. As it shows, peer pressures affect students a lot.
To summarize, I firmly believe that friends have greater influence over students than teachers; friends are the ones that students spend their time most and there is a great peer pressure among young adults.