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There is old saying goes ‘Teacher affects eternity. He can never knows where his influence stops.’ This explictly emphasizes the importance of teachers in one’s life. Of course, it is hard to deny the influence of teacher totally. Nevertheless, in my observation I agree with this statement that students are more affected by their peers than teachers for these reasons that students are much more exposed to their friends than teachers and that students tend to be more agreeable to their peers by nature. In the first place, there are more probabilities to be affected by their friends than teacher in terms of time. It is obvious when you think of normal classroom. Imagine a classroom which is filled with over 30 students and one teacher. No matter how students try to follow and imitate his or her teacher, it is almost impossible to be with his or teacher all the time. On the other hand, students continuously interact with their friends during classes, break time, and even after classes. Just like the adage goes ‘Men are known by the company they keep’, some close friends are very similar in eating habits and even ideal type for spouses. In this sense, it is difficult to conclude that teachers who teach them knowledge in classes for a few hours do not have as much influences as their peers who spend time on almost every activities. In the second place, students are more likely to listen to their friends than teachers. Some might disagree this statement because there are also students who try to imitate and stick to their teacher in classroom. However, in general people have a tendency to be closer to their friends than teachers and, in particular students who are under some emotional troubles and undergo the most turbulent period of their life time are more likely to take their peers words. No matter how bad their friends advices, most student just follow their advices for loyalty or partly for peer pressure. For example, according to studies released by Education Ministry of Korea, over 70 percents of adolescent answered that they have committed crimes due to peer pressure and a sense of loyalty for friends regardless of their own want. Considering these phenomenon and the outcome of studies, students are more susceptible to their friends than to teachers. In sum, teachers have been played and will play a pivotal role in student’s growth and development in many respects. Yet, given that between teachers and friends as more influential factor, I would certainly choose friends due to time to spend with and nature of students of being more attentive to their peers
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