Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is when a person is pressured by a this person's peer group to do a certain action, adopt values, or conform to be accepted by the peer group. What society and the law says to do is not always equal to what is spoken by one’s peer group, because consequences come from actions which 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”, British imperialism, or in modern day actions and discipline. Peer pressure is a leading factor to 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 an early 20th century European writer. He lived from 1903 to 1950, where at one point he became a police officer in Moulmein, Lower Burma. He was not accepted in this anti-European society where if a woman would walk through a bazaar alone, someone was bound to spit betel juice all over her dress. Orwell then explained in his encounter with an elephant. Because he was the police officer of the town, he was told that an elephant ran rampant through the town, killing an Indian man. The town wanted Mr. Orwell to kill the elephant because it killed a person of their town! Orwell was being peer pressured by the townspeople to shoot the elephant, and he took the shot. Was the life of the elephant worth the death of one Indian man? Orwell made that decision when he pulled the trigger of his rifle. Every last bit of the elephant was gone within hours. The townspeople needed the elephant more for themselves than to commemorate the life of the Indian man. Orwell was pressured to make a decision that he did not ...

... middle of paper ...

...ing off fireworks in a small neighborhood in downtown Bellingham, they all were pressured by a peer. All of these kids received the more than 30 hours of community service, just because they were pressured by a peer at school, on the internet, or by a neighbor.
Peer Pressure is influence from members of one's peer group to do a certain action, make a choice, or change their opinion. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell is pressured by the people of Lower Burma through the killing of the Indian man and through British imperialism. My own friends were peer pressured which transpired into negative consequences. Finally almost all of the Teen Court cases I personally have dealt with have involved peer pressure. People believe that they must conform to society in order to find their niche, but it is only needed to be original and yourself to fit in society.