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Why light up in the first place?
Knowing the dangers associated with tobacco use, why then are so many young people choosing to light up? To a significant extent, adolescent smokers are victims of the tobacco industry's $6.2 billion a year advertising campaign. Crafty advertising executives are able to lure young people into smoking by turning cigarettes into symbols and portraying smoking in a glamorous and sophisticated light. Geared toward younger audiences, magazine and billboard advertisements often depict smoking as cool and adventurous.
The human results of such a marketing ploy are truly tragic. Young smokers often suffer from respiratory problems, asthma, chronic cough and phlegm production. And later in life, they face such harrowing illnesses as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer.
Still, the tobacco industry continues to encourage young people to smoke, and teenagers continue to do so. This is largely due to the effect this industry's imaging techniques have had on American society. Glamorous images of smoking and tobacco use run rampant in our culture. Consider the prevalence of smoking in the entertainment industry, for example. Since the early days of motion pictures, smoking has often been portrayed as mature and debonair, as demonstrated by such Hollywood legends as Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Today, that image remains firmly embedded in the psyche of Hollywood, even though medical researchers have exposed a considerable bit more about the dangers associated with the glamour.
For many young people, the media's depiction of smoking is only one part of the motivation. Often teenagers start smoking to seem older, to rebel, to seem cool or to be accepted. When they link up with friends who smoke, then it seems natural that they should smoke, as well. Peer pressure, both explicit and implicit, can provide young people with a strong motivation to start smoking.
Young people also learn from example. When they grow up in families where one or both parents smoke, or older brothers and sisters smoke, then there is a stronger likelihood that that child will smoke, as well.
Another good reason to cut smoking short
According to former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, "What is notable about tobacco use is that it consistently occurs early in the sequence of problem behaviors. When a young person starts to smoke or use tobacco, it is a signal, an alarm that he or she may get involved in other risky behaviors. If we can prevent tobacco use in the first place, we might have a big impact on preventing or delaying a host of other destructive behaviors among our young people." Therefore, it is important that you as parents are aware of your children's exposure to smoking and tobacco use at home, at school and in social situations
Tobacco has often been called a "gateway" drug, for it often precedes and predicts the use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and other dangerous drugs later in life. But this can be avoided if children are taught at an early age that the health risks associated with smoking far outweigh the glamorous images that come with it. Be aware of what your children are exposed to, and perhaps you will be able to put an end to such dangerous behavior before it has a chance to flourish.
-- by Chris Lilienthal
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The problem of tobacco use among children and teenagers is one that continues to persist despite efforts made by parents and health professionals to instruct young people about the hazards of smoking. In fact, of all people who will ever smoke, 90 percent of them begin before the age of 19. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children start smoking around age 12 and become regular smokers before age 14.