Dale Greer

Peer pressure causes teens to make decisions they later regret, such as joining gangs, Dale Greer maintains in the following viewpoint. He cites the experiences of a boy named Hubert, whose inability to resist peer pressure led to his involvement with a gang that encouraged him to commit crimes such as carjacking, selling drugs, and stealing. Greer concludes by asserting that father figures are necessary to help instill the values teens need to resist peer pressure. Greer is an inmate at the Minnesota Correction Facility in Stillwater.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the author, what was Hubert’s biggest burden?
2. How could Hubert’s dilemma have improved, according to Greer?
3. According to Greer, why was Hubert’s life condemned at age sixteen"

Hubert Morris, a thirteen-year-old male, was raised in...