Peer pressure is when a person is pressured by his or her peer group to perform a certain action, adopt values, or conform in order to be accepted by the peer group. What society and the law tell you to do is not always the same as what you are told by your peer group, because consequences arise from actions that can destroy, harm, or affect others. The effects of peer pressure can be positive or negative, as shown in George Orwell's short autobiography “Shooting an Elephant,” in British imperialism or in modern-day actions and discipline. Peer pressure is a determining factor in almost everything a person does, which often results in positive and sometimes negative consequences. Eric Arthur Blair, or better known by his pen name, George Orwell, was a European writer of the early 20th century. He lived from 1903 to 1950, where at one point he became a police officer in Moulmein, Lower Burma. It was not accepted in that anti-European society where if a woman walked alone in a bazaar, someone was bound to spit betel juice all over her dress. Orwell then explained his encounter with an elephant. Since he was the city police officer, he was told that an elephant was rampaging through the city, killing an Indian man. The town wanted Mr. Orwell to kill the elephant because it had killed a person from their town! Orwell was being pressured by citizens to shoot the elephant, and he shot. Was the elephant's life worth the death of an Indian? Orwell made this decision when he pulled the trigger on his rifle. Every last fragment of the elephant disappeared within a few hours. The citizens needed the elephant more for themselves than to commemorate the life of the Indian man. Orwell was forced to make a decision he didn't make... middle of paper... by putting out fireworks in a small neighborhood in downtown Bellingham, everyone was pressured by a peer. All of these kids received more than 30 hours of community service, only because they were pressured by a peer at school, on the Internet or by a neighbor. Peer pressure is the influence of members of your peer group to take a certain action, make a choice, or change your opinion. In “Shooting the Elephant” by George Orwell, Orwell is pressured by the people of Lower Burma through the killing of the Indian man and through British imperialism. My friends experienced peer pressure which resulted in negative consequences. Finally, almost all of the teen court cases I have personally handled have involved peer pressure. People believe that they have to conform to society to find their niche, but you only need to be original and yourself to fit into society.