Young Adults and Cigarette Smoking
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and many other illnesses. At least one out of five death in American society caused by disease directly related to cigarette smoking. The overall smoking prevalence in the United States has been reduced considerably over the past 20 years; however, there have been only minimal reductions in smoking prevalence among adolescents and young adults. Among college students, the prevalence of use of cigarettes is still about 35%. Although smoking among adolescents and young adults is often associated as a bad, but temporary habit, determinants of smoking among college students and the amount of harm it causes to their health and health of others are largely unknown.
I once was asked a question for which I can't find the answer even today. Shortly before writing this paper I did some research and asked a few of my friends the same question. Give me at least one good reason why you are ignoring the danger that you know about so well? Some say that they smoke to relieve stress from school. Others say it gives them something to do at parties. Some say they get an intensified sensation from mixing tobacco and alcohol. Some say they've tried to stop so many times but can't. Others say that their grandparents have smoked all their life and are still alive and healthy. Besides, dying of cancer in 40 or 50 years seems to them a long, long way off. And you never know-you could get hit by a truck first. To be honest, none of these answers really answered my question. Most of the young smokers try smoking for the first time in middle school. But they don't smoke often until they turn 16 and get a car. To them, driving, music, and smoking Marlboro or Newport all go together. Their main light-up time is usually right after school. That's the best cigarette of the day. My friends and I belong to a generation of teens that have received more education about the hazards of tobacco than any generation in history. As kindergartners, alarmed by the dangers of smoking, we flushed our mothers' menthols. We have been shown the tricks cigarette makers used to seduce children. We have seen the anticigarette ads that use humor to prevent smoking. And we have seen stomach-turning photos of smokers' blackened lungs and ulcerated tongues.
Every year in the United States, more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke; consequently, making this the leading cause of preventable death in this country. People are usually introduced to smoking at a young age; mostly around the preteen years. During this critical time preteen are transitioning from middle school to high school; teens at this age find it a little harder fitting in with others all while forming their own sense of identity. Preteens only pick up the habit of smoking to cope with these challenges. What these teens do not know is that smoking at an early age only increases their chances of suffering from a lifelong addiction. To help assuage the situation the Nicotinell anti-smoking organization
In the seventh chapter of Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, readers are first introduced to a case study about increased rates of suicide of teen boys in Micronesia. Gladwell explains that suicide in Micronesia is common and it is triggered by the slightest things. Almost all of the suicides are males that are in their late teens and living at home. Usually, these teens are triggered by arguments with their girlfriends or parents. Gladwell then tells readers that teen suicide is a fatal epidemic in Micronesia that is related to another fatal epidemic: teen smoking in the West. Nobody really understands how to fight teen smoking. He also claims that teen smoking is self-destructive experimentation
Teen smoking has been increasing since 1991. There are economic, psychological and sociological factors that play an important role in this increase.
This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional incomes. Furthermore almost 80,000 people died in England in 2011 as a result of smoking related issues and 9,500 admissions of children died due to being second hand smokers (WHO, 2005). This essay focuses on definition of smoking, the aim is to underline the relationship between smoking and the determinants of health and then, the size, prevalence, and morbidity trend of smoking will be explored. Furthermore, some public health policies introduced to confront the issues around smoking will be investigated and finally, the roles of nurses will identify health needs the public so as to promote good health and their wellbeing.
Through public education, most elementary school kids can understand that smoking is bad for them and that cigarettes are additive. Cigarettes are addictive due to nicotine, a drug found in tobacco (“Quitting Smoking”, 2015). According to Schneider (2016), some of the greatest health problems associated with smoking include: lung cancer, other cancers, coronary heart disease, other heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, other vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), prenatal conditions, and sudden infant death syndrome. As stated by the Authority of the American Lung Association in an article titled “Health
Smoking is a lifestyle, a habit, and a trend. Smoking has become a social activity among teens, connecting them through the craving of a smoke. Smoking is seen as seductive and cool in the media and movies which influences teenagers to smoke even more. The World Health Organization has stated that “Tobacco kills around 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.” As of April 2016, only 7% of teenagers in the U.S. smoke, but it is said that tobacco use will kill 8 million people annually by 2030. 99% of adult smokers start in their years as teenagers. Smoking is an epidemic that has taken control of people’s lives since 1881 and the media since the early 1900s. Smoking currently kills about 440,000 people a year in the U.S. I feel that it is an issue because it is the #1 most preventable way to die, but people still continue to smoke because of how it looks and how they are perceived as a person if they do. The fact that people become addicted to a trend that will attribute to their death for the sake of being thought of as cooler, is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.
In recent years, smoking has started to take over the lives of many teenagers. The number of teenagers smoking has increased dramatically in the last several years. This is a major problem because smoking can lead to sickness and major diseases that can lead to death. Teens tend to participate in this while out of the presence of an adult figure. Although teens should not be smoking in the first place, an adult figure should be around to help insure that their children are doing the right things, even when they are behind sealed doors with their peers. Teenagers as they mature become a model for younger children and when they set the example of smoking can ruin their respectable image to the children that look up to them.
Guess what? Even children who live in a smoking environment are influenced to become a smoker as they grow up; smoking has a huge impact on our younger generation as they are negatively influenced by this habit and we as adults are responsible for it. Many people don’t know this is a serious issue but they regard it as normality.
Rigotti and associated found one third of college students are current tobacco users (Obermayer, Riley, Ofer, & Jersino, 2004). College students however are unlikely to seek professional help to quit smoking. 46 college student participants, aged 18 to 25 year old in the Washington D.C. area participated in the study. Subjects reported smoking an average of 28 cigarettes per week and had a desire to quit smoking within the next 30 days. Measurements were taken on the Seven Day Reconstructions, Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale, and a program questionnaire at pretest and six weeks later at
All tobacco products have a warning label on the package, and yet people continue to use it. I’ve heard of different reasons from different people. None of them make sense to me. The only borderline logical reason to me is growing up with that in your household. You don’t stand a chance after you get use to the chemicals. The smoke reels you in like a fish on a hook and you become a slave to the smell. Even if that is the case, I still believe you have a choice. A majority people start due to people in their family, but I’ve heard of less intelligent reasons. Two people told me they started just because the turned eighteen and they realized they were of legal age. I’ve been informed of someone finding cigarettes and deciding to try them. Another person told me they started because they wanted to prove they could smoke cigarettes and do “cool” smoke tricks. I’ve also heard a few people say they started due to peer pressure. A lot of people tend to use stress as an excuse, but a tobacco won’t solve your problems. An interesting reason I’ve recently discovered is social awkwardness. One person told me they would use smoking as an excuse to evade uncomfortable situations. Whatever the reason may be, an abundance of people have a difficult time quitting. One person close to me has described smoking as “muscle memory” and you also associate smoking with
Young people want to be accepted and many times will do whatever they have to do to become part of the crowd. They don't know that the earlier you start smoking, the greater your chances of developing lung cancer or some other lung-related disease as you get older. WHAT CAUSES LUNG CANCER? Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. The American Lung Association says that cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 different chemicals.
Teen Smoking Teen smoking. Those two words mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. To some it means nothing. They are just two meaningless words found under T and S in the dictionary. To others it is as if these words symbolize some sort of treason or crime against society. Yet to others it is just another stereotype to be placed under. And to some it is a salvation. An escape. Unfortunately I am writing this paper so you will get my positions on teen smoking rather than other peoples. Teen smoking gathers a lot of emotions when I think about it. It makes me very angry sometimes. My first draft of this was good but I saw myself getting angry and lashing out on everyone, so I revised it. But enough of that, I find teen smoking to be a very controversial subject. To be completely honest with you I am smoking right now as I am writing this. Obviously I am a smoker. I am 17 years old and I am a smoker. In the late 1990’s, the statistics showed that approximately 25% of teens smoke. That’s one out of every four teenagers. High school is a tough time for teens. These years are critical to a teens future. This explains why a vast majority of smokers start at 16 years or younger with the most common age being 14 years old(freshman). It has also been proven also that teens who score lower in school smoke more than higher scoring students do. It seems that everyone smokes in our school. Our school is overrun with smokers. It is right now at least 50% smokers and 65% if you count the people who will smoke before their high school career is up. We practically encourage it. I mean Fireman’s Field practically condones teen smoking. Teen smoking is defiantly a problem in our school, as well as schools all over the United States. I feel that teen smoking is a huge problem. I feel that too many teenagers smoke cigarettes. It is something that needs to get dealt with. But before I get into that I should probably start with the causes of teen smoking. There are several factors that start teens on smoking cigarettes. There has to be considering that over 1 million new teenagers will start smoking annually. The most common is peer pressure.
Today, there has been an increase in the amount of teenagers who smoke half a pack a day of cigarettes. The number of seniors in high school who have tried cigarettes has decreased over the years, but the number of those who smoke occasionally or half a pack or more a day, has increased. There are many factors as to why teenagers smoke including advertising and teen behavior. There are also a few ways we can stop teenagers from wanting to smoke. Therefore, we need to make teens aware that smoking is not good for you and it is not cool and we need to figure out why teens think it is cool. We need to find out why teens smoke and how we can make the
tobacco related illnesses? But still people smoke. Why would they still smoke even though they know the effects? Actually why do they even start? One of the reasons done because of the “cool” look you get from smoking. We have movies to blame for that but that still doesn’t mean it should be done. Peer pressure plays a big part in teenager’s lives and most kids are highly susceptible to it. This is just a few of the many reasons people start to smoke. There is also the feeling to be rebellious resulting in teens smoking to show they don’t care about rules or laws. There is also mental addiction (craving the “after meal” e.g. having one after lunch or during work, basically where and when you used to smoke), physical addiction (the addictive substance nicotine, on its own harmless but makes you crave for a cigarette on a whole) and stress. Stress is the biggest factor because smoking a cigarette relaxes a lot of people and soothes their crave for one. There is also the biggest factor