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Smoking
By Ruben, a high school senior
February 9, 2009
Smoking cigarettes is bad. They will give you cancer and then you will die. That is the basic message of most anti-smoking ads, and it can be hard to misinterpret a message as clear as that.
After the discovery of the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes every generation since then has been well informed of the negative effects and has worked to improve the problem. It can be safe to assume that by now every person in the country knows that negativity linked with smoking. If everyone is aware of the effects of smoking then why do people still do it? Previous generations that grew up not knowing what smoking could do can be excused because they were conditioned to think cigarettes were just great, but what about more recent generations? In almost every high school across the country, there are teens that smoke cigarettes. There are even cases of younger children in grade school smoking. Teens and preteens are the focus of many anti-smoking campaigns and everyone has seen those corny after-school specials on smoking. With all that anti-smoking information, being shoved down the throats of teenagers from an early age then why some teenagers still smoke is a mystery.
Many factors can contribute for this activity, but not one can be responsible for all of it. The government could be responsible for not enforcing restrictions and reforms in the tobacco industry. Some European countries require cigarette boxes to have 70% of the box covered in warning labels. The age that teenagers are allowed to buy cigarettes can be a factor since they can buy cigarettes and later provide them to their younger associates. Why can people smoke before they are allowed to drink, does that mean that cigarettes are seen as less dangerous than alcohol? In addition, teenagers have always been able to sneak things pass parents much like alcohol so cigarettes must not be even less of a challenge. The pressures to be a teenager have greatly increased in the past years so maybe cigarettes are seen as means to achieve some downtime from a difficult day. Then of course is the clich? reason for teens to smoke which is to be cool. Similar to alcohol, cigarettes are used by adults so to many teens mimicking adult behaviors gives them a superior status among their peers. Peer pressure can be a major stimulant in smoking amongst teens, and teens may pick up the habit from their parents or older siblings helping in continuing this unhealthy tradition.
Most people like to think that as time passes society improves and discards of unhealthy trends however, it seems that smoking is the exception to this idea. Teenagers continue to smoke cigarettes regardless of the information presented to them. Todays teens know all the facts and still do not hesitate to try smoking. Perhaps smoking is just a trend and social habit that exists in our society that we do not condemn, but regulate the influence in general media. It may just depend on the individual to make that choice for them based on their own opinions and experiences.
February 9, 2009
Smoking cigarettes is bad. They will give you cancer and then you will die. That is the basic message of most anti-smoking ads, and it can be hard to misinterpret a message as clear as that.
After the discovery of the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes every generation since then has been well informed of the negative effects and has worked to improve the problem. It can be safe to assume that by now every person in the country knows that negativity linked with smoking. If everyone is aware of the effects of smoking then why do people still do it? Previous generations that grew up not knowing what smoking could do can be excused because they were conditioned to think cigarettes were just great, but what about more recent generations? In almost every high school across the country, there are teens that smoke cigarettes. There are even cases of younger children in grade school smoking. Teens and preteens are the focus of many anti-smoking campaigns and everyone has seen those corny after-school specials on smoking. With all that anti-smoking information, being shoved down the throats of teenagers from an early age then why some teenagers still smoke is a mystery.
Many factors can contribute for this activity, but not one can be responsible for all of it. The government could be responsible for not enforcing restrictions and reforms in the tobacco industry. Some European countries require cigarette boxes to have 70% of the box covered in warning labels. The age that teenagers are allowed to buy cigarettes can be a factor since they can buy cigarettes and later provide them to their younger associates. Why can people smoke before they are allowed to drink, does that mean that cigarettes are seen as less dangerous than alcohol? In addition, teenagers have always been able to sneak things pass parents much like alcohol so cigarettes must not be even less of a challenge. The pressures to be a teenager have greatly increased in the past years so maybe cigarettes are seen as means to achieve some downtime from a difficult day. Then of course is the clich? reason for teens to smoke which is to be cool. Similar to alcohol, cigarettes are used by adults so to many teens mimicking adult behaviors gives them a superior status among their peers. Peer pressure can be a major stimulant in smoking amongst teens, and teens may pick up the habit from their parents or older siblings helping in continuing this unhealthy tradition.
Most people like to think that as time passes society improves and discards of unhealthy trends however, it seems that smoking is the exception to this idea. Teenagers continue to smoke cigarettes regardless of the information presented to them. Todays teens know all the facts and still do not hesitate to try smoking. Perhaps smoking is just a trend and social habit that exists in our society that we do not condemn, but regulate the influence in general media. It may just depend on the individual to make that choice for them based on their own opinions and experiences.
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