One of the largest issues today is adolescent smoking. According to a heath based website, nearly 90% of adult smokers start while they are still teens and they never intend to get hooked. They may start by bumming a cigarette or two from a friend at a party, and then go on to buying an occasional pack. Soon they realize that they can't go without that pack. They've gotten used to reaching for a cigarette first thing in the morning, after meals, or during any stressful time. They become addicted, both physically and psychologically. According to the American Lung Association, each day 6,000 children under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. Almost 2,000 of them will become regular smokers – that’s 757, 000 new smokers annually! …show more content…
These teens may think that smoking shows that they are old enough to make their own decisions.
To make matters worse, the tobacco companies are making millions from teen smokers. Tobacco companies use advertising to manipulate both teens and adults. They present images that are hard to shake, even when you know the truth. Have you ever seen a cigarette ad where people are wrinkled, middle-aged or coughing and in the hospital dying of lung cancer? Of course not! In most ads, smokers are shown the way that teens would like to be: attractive and hip, sophisticated and elegant, or rebellious.
A 2002 study performed by the Research Triangle Institute states that the tobacco companies make 1.8 billion dollars annually from underage sales. It is interesting that they are making such large profits when it is illegal for a person under the age of 18 to purchase cigarettes. A recent survey by the The American Lung Association indicated that among students under 18 years old who were current smokers, 69.4% reported never being asked for proof of age when buying cigarettes in a store, and 62.4% were not refused purchase because of their age.
The tobacco industry kills more people in North America from Monday to Thursday of each week than the terrorists murdered in total on September 11, 2001. That sounds unrealistic, doesn’t it? Well, smoking is an epidemic that affects us all, whether you are a smoker or you aren’t. In order to stop this epidemic, we need to
Tobacco companies advertise in magazines, promote their products in convenience stores and market their brands through websites and social networks. Many of these tobacco industries get publicity and attract more young customers when using the newly in media to promote their products. Many of these tobacco companies don’t understand that tobacco advertising is a huge public health issue that increases smoking. Tobacco company advertising and promoting is the start of the use of tobacco among teenagers. Now, these media and magazine advertisements about cigars have caused teenagers to be exposed to cigarette advertising. Not only that but also these teenagers find ads appealing and also increase their desire to smoke. Cigarette companies spent about $8.37 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States in 2011.
Addiction and substance abuse is a personal fear in most people worldwide. Young people are more susceptible to experimenting with tobacco and alcohol, than middle aged or older people are. Most people reported smoking at the age or eighteen, when they could legally purchase
In our communities, the youth can easily identified any of tobacco’s product. The author, Steven Reinberg, published , Tobacco Companies Targeting Teens, Study Says, states that the tobacco product, Marlboro, is highly purchased by high school students according to usnews.com. Mr. McGoldrick states that the three brands, 90 percent is being marketed. Most companies hold their ground saying that their tobacco products are not meant to bought by youth, but somehow still managed to in our children’s hands, in his article, Tobacco Companies Targeting Teens, Study Says (steven Reinberg). According to Erin Brodwin, author of “Tobacco Companies Still Target Youth despite A Globally Treaty”, states that children all over the world can identify the tobacco brands. Not only are children picking up their ideas from television, but also from public. Children knowing which brands shows how serious the addiction can be. Seeing how easily the product being shown to the youth is another way of starting. If less smokers are seen in public, the lower the numbers will
In 2014, 24.6% of high school students reported that they used some type of tobacco product in the past 30 days (‘National Youth Tobacco Survey’). There are several factors that influence youth to begin using tobacco. Although it is clear that peer pressure can initiate smoking, multiple studies find that tobacco marketing causes an increase in youth tobacco use.
Teens technically shouldn't see the marketing done by alcohol, and tobacco but due to the extent the reach advertising it can't be helped so they have taken it up to themselves to take advantage of their exposure to marketing.
A High school student starts off with just trying a cigarette, then started smoking just about one cigarette a day, then became addict, he ended up smoking for 30 years, he developed throat cancer and had to breathe through a surgically made hole in his neck for the rest of his life. Just trying tobacco as a teen increases your chances by 80 percent of being addicted to some kind of tobacco in your future as being an adult (Bratsis Michael E). Teen and even children are trying tobacco products earlier and earlier every year. Tobacco products are becoming more advanced for example: the E-Cig. Tobacco producers are coming up with new way to put nicotine into your body. Having this teens want to try the new, non-researched, tobacco
There are many things, people don’t understand. One inquiring question is why teens smoke. There can be wishful thinking on the causes that maybe known to the teens themselves outside of the situation(s) that may start the causes. The most common and possible causes are Pressure amongst their peers, smoking availability, to promotion through industry advertisement, to the main causes of family situations, and possible negative influences. These are some of the possible reasons that cause teens to smoke before the legal age of 18 years old, and these causes can be the main factors in contributing to teenage smoking.
Not that smoking is wrong, but teens should live their life in a good way. Ask your teens what do they want to do or want to be in the future. “Teens tend to assume that bad things happen only to other people “ (“Tween and Teens Smoking”). But there are teens who don’t think about what they are doing. Another way is for them to understand and take the addiction seriously. “Most teens believe occasionally smoking won’t cause them to become addicted and that, if they become regular smokers, they can stop at any time they want” (“Tween and Teens Smoking”). This spike might have been prevented if more people would help support teens who smoke. With proper attitudes, teens smoking can be
The Institute of Medicine found that children, who are born between the years 2000 and 2019, would suffer 249,000 fewer premature deaths and 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, when the legal age to purchase tobacco is increased from 18 to 21 years of age (atg.wa.gov 2016). Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., which causes many chronic health complications such as heart disease, cancer, and lung disease (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in Washington state will decrease the use later in adult life. Children, specifically ages 15 to 17, are targeted the most by tobacco companies because of their vulnerability, creates an addiction to the nicotine, which often results in loyalty to a specific tobacco company. Needham, Massachusetts, campaigned to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 in 2005 and won. Results are already compelling, showing that between 2006 and 2012 Needham’s high school smoking rate dropped more than half among girls and boys (atg.wa.gov 2016). Given that nicotine can be such an addictive drug and be seen to be used as a coping mechanism, specifically ages 15 to 17 through their developing stages of life, need to encounter difficulty in accessing tobacco products. According to the Center of Disease Control, one in 13 Americans age 17 or younger alive today is estimated to die prematurely due to the effects of smoking (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the
Teenage smoking can be a result of the influence of other teens, or maybe the amount of peer pressure. This can cause a teen to want to smoke or even think about smoking (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Statistics show that 794 student and 22.4 percent of teens claimed to be tobacco users. (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Teens tend to be more abrasive when smoking, and seem to act different while smoking and once they have gotten into the habit of smoking make it a constant thing. In 2003, 21.9 percent of high school students currently smoke cigarettes (Alcid, Arthur, page 1).
To illustrate, several studies have identified social controls whose absence has caused adolescents to experiment and initiate in tobacco use. Starting at home, the influence of parental attitude and behavior toward adolescent smoking has a major impact on adolescent smoking. Newman and Ward (1989) sampled 735 students from 12 schools in and around one moderately sized Midwestern city, 18.5% of the sample were smokers. In this study, Newman & Ward asked the students questions via a questionnaire in order to rate the parental attitudes. One question asked was, "With regards to my smoking cigarettes, my parents/guardian would: threaten to punish me if I smoked; haven't told me how they feel if I smoke? ; have told me they don't care if I smoke" (Newman and Ward, 1989, p. 150). Two-thirds of the students reported that both parents would be upset if they smoked. An interesting note was that about two-thirds of the nonsmoking adolescents reported parental disapproval versus one-half of the smoking adolescents. The analysis of the data revealed that when neither parent smoked and
The author Rachel Kranz in “Straight Talk About Smoking,’ states, “Smoking more means that Lynette has less to spend on pizza and after-school snacks, because she’s got to make sure she can afford three or four packs of cigarettes each week.” (Kranz). Peer pressure to smoke can also be a way of teenagers proving that they are mature. Maturity is something that all teenagers have been told to obtain; especially by adults. The legal smoking age in most states is twenty-one, and most adults do smoke. Teenagers think that they can feel more grown up when they smoke and fit in society. Kaz Vorpal in the book of “Teen Smoking,’” states, “Adults do certain things, and therefore children who do those things feel they are more like grownups.” (Vorpal 66). Movies also contributes to teen smoking by portraying smoking as a cool, pleasurable, and harmless thing. All these factors give the teen a pressure to start smoking and never realize that the Nicotine that is found in the cigarette is addictive and causes major health problems like cancer.
The influence of social environment is the main reason for teenagers to contact with smoking. The message from mess media shows that smoking is a normal activity. Smoking among peers, parents, or relatives will promote teenagers try to use tobacco. Although the legal smoking age is 18 years
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, “If smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness. That’s about 1 of every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger alive today.” Smoking has, and continues to be, one of the leading causes of premature deaths in the world. It is an issue that dates back hundreds of years, but with advances in our understanding of smoking, we have begun the long journey to creating a healthier, smoke-free society.
There is a widespread epidemic that is highly misunderstood in today’s society, and that is the use of cigarettes. Substances used in cigarettes cause many harmful ailments such as tooth decay, lung cancer, and heart disease. Nicotine, the stimulative chemical found in tobacco, creates a physical and physiological addiction that compels the frequent usage of the product - further allowing the destruction of numerous vital parts of the human anatomy. As a result, many people are diagnosed with fatal diseases and are condemned to a life of therapy or medicine with harmful side effects. Unsurprisingly, “Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day” (CDC). This harrowing statistic reveals just how much damage cigarette smoking causes on human lives. Another ramification that is often overlooked is the resulting negative impact on the economy. Billions of taxpayer dollars are used to mitigate the healthcare costs and environmental destruction caused by cigarettes. For these reasons, cigarettes are a plague to society that needs to be resolved. There are many ways in which we can fix this issue, such as raising awareness in schools about the dangers of cigarettes, taxation, and rehabilitation.