Teenage Smoking
When I went to visit my grandmother in the hospital, she was critically ill. I heard the doctor say that she would have a much better chance of survival if she had not been a smoker most of her life. I made the decision then that I would not smoke. Every day more than 3,000 teenagers become regular smokers. That number translates to more than 1 million teenagers a year. About one third of them will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease. Cigarettes kill more than 400,000 Americans every year. A person who smokes a pack or more of cigarettes each day will live about seven fewer years than a nonsmoker. Further, smoking hurts young people's physical performance and endurance. Smoking in young people can hamper both the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung functioning. Young people who regularly smoke cough more, have increased phlegm, and more frequency and severity of respiratory illnesses. The Surgeon General's report found that the younger a person starts smoking cigarettes, the more likely he or she is to become strongly addicted to nicotine.
Almost ninety percent of adult smokers begin smoking at or before age eighteen. Currently, about 4.5 million children ages 12 to 17 are smokers, and teenage smoking is still on the rise. Tobacco companies spend roughly $5 billion each year, which is over $13 million every day, promoting their products. Numerous tobacco industry documents that have recently become public because of lawsuits established which the tobacco industry perceives teenagers as a key market for their products. Because of this perception, the tobacco industry has studied the smoking habits of teenagers and developed advertising campaigns aimed at them. One solut...
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..., then the health problems associated with smoking will escalate, and there will be more than 400,000 tobacco-related deaths each year. If no one in the world smoked, there would be no tobacco-related illnesses, which include second-hand smoke. Additionally, if no one in the world smoked, there would be no pressure for teenagers to smoke.
Works Cited
- Cigarettes—What’s in them? Tobacco Fact Sheet. 1997. <http://www.
cancercouncil.com.au/cncrinfo/schools/students/smoking_cigarettes.htm>.
- Effects of Second-Hand Smoke. Access Health, Inc. 1996. <https://www.your
Health.com/ahl/1842.html.>
- Teenage Smoking. Kristin Cappon and Kevin Cronk. 2000. <http:// www.
imcnet.net/sybermag/features/smoking.htm.>
- Tobacco—Health Facts. WHO OMS. 1999 April. <http://www.who.int/
inf-fs/en/fact221.html>.
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.
Tobacco companies should be prevented from using advertising tactics that target teenagers. There has always been controversy as to how tobacco companies should prevent using advertising tactics to target teenagers. As controversial as this is tobacco companies shouldn’t advertise teen smoking. Many teens may be lured to believe cigarette advertising because it has been part of the American Culture for years, magazine ads and the media target young people, and these companies receive a drastic increase financially; however, the advertising by these cigarette companies has disadvantages such as having to campaign against their own company, limiting their cigarette advertising and becoming a controversial dilemma as to encouraging teenagers to smoke. From billboards to newspaper advertisements, cigarette promotions started becoming part of the American Culture.
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
As per the American Heart Association in 2013, an expected 23 percent of grown-up men and 18 percent of grown-up ladies in the United States are smokers. What’s even more troubling is the prevalence of juvenile smoking in our society. juvenile smoking is a very real danger among U.S. youngsters and high schoolers. About 25 percent of U.S. secondary school understudies are smokers, and an extra 8 percent use smokeless tobacco items, for example, snuff and plunge. But what is most disheartening, is that 30 percent of all juvenile smokers will become addicted and suffer health related complications due to prolonged smoking. Numerous components play into a kid's choice to attempt tobacco. A craving to seem "cooler", more advanced, or to
In other words, people who smoke should quit not only for their health, but for the health of their loved ones and the people around when they smoke, especially for that of children. We now know that when a person smokes, you’re inhaling life-threatening chemicals, and you’re damaging your internal organs. In addition, smoking leads to wrinkles, teeth falling out, along with other gruesome consequences that eventually lead to death. Another think to recalculate is that apart from the chemicals already in the cigarette more are created when a person light it. It is said that people who quit smoking are doing the most preventable cause of death in the United States.Some of the effects that smoking causes is that it increases the person’s irritability, impatience, hostility, anxiety, depressed mood, it’s difficult for the smoker to concentrate, restlessness, decreased heart rate, appetite or weight gain, all of these things in which are bad for a person’s health.
While todays major tobacco producers deny that they market to the youth. However, we still see them subliminally targeting children through magazine advertisements, store posters, and Internet ads. In addition, they continue to use product placement strategies in mov...
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.
Smoking has became a major issue everywhere in the world. The effects of cigarette smoking can be really terrifying as smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke but as well as the non-smokers. Tobacco from a cigarette contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug that makes it difficult for the smokers to stop smoking. (MentalHelp, 2005). They are not only physically addicted to nicotine but they also link smoking with many social activities which makes it hard to stop (American Lung Association, 2014). Smoking is a habit that causes many health implications that could lead to death (American Lung Association, 2014). Most of the smokers started smoking regularly at a young age even though there are various anti-smoking campaigns being run. (American Lung Association, 2014). Most teenagers start smoking because they are being exposed under friends and family members who smoke. They tend to be curious and say that they just wanted to try it or teenagers started smoking because they thought it was cool to do so (American Cancer Society, 2014). Quitting smoking requires seve...
Furthermore, since young children have been introduced and exposed to tobacco advertising, children younger than the age o...
Did you know that in 2011 there were more than 6 million tobacco caused deaths worldwide (Henningfield)? Smoking is the act of inhaling and exhaling the fumes of burning plant material. Because there is nicotine in cigarettes, they are highly addictive. Cigarettes are one of the worlds most devastating causes of death and disease (Henningfield). There are many negative effects from secondhand smoking, both immediately and over time. Smoking also affects the environment indoors negatively. Also, when pregnant woman or parents of young children smoke, they could harm their children. People should not smoke with others around because they are exposed to harmful chemicals and they are not the one putting themselves in danger.
not work they can ask someone old enough to buy packs for them. Although, it is
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.
The smoker also helps 500-1000 non smokers die each year from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease . Moreover, the person to the children developing asthma and allergies.
The governments must ban the sales of tobacco products. There are many consequences to smoking like health, addiction, cessation and economic costs. Second hand smoke is a major problem, since smoking is allowed in alot of public places.
Advertising and marketing of cigarettes are a big factor as to why teenagers smoke. There are promotions for different brands like Joe Camal and Marlboro Man. They’re some of the biggest marketing campaigns on T.V. Both companies have giveaways like T-shirts in return for coupons accumulated by buying their brand of cigarettes. Different cigarette companies make the...