Cigarette Smoking among Adolescence

Adolescents, smoke cigarettes as they think it is something cool to do. However, smoking cigarettes are highly addictive and could be fatal. Cigarette packaging is required to include a warning. The federal government implemented this in order for consumers to be aware of the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes. For example, Kool, Camel, Marlboro, and Newport to name a few come with a warning. Marlboro package states “smoking causes mouth and throat cancer”. But why are adolescents smoke cigarettes despite the warning on the carton box? Adolescences are between the ages of 10 and 19 at this age they are experiencing changes both physical and emotional due to puberty, which could contribute to a change in behavior. Smoking cigarettes could be a method they use to cope with the changes they are experiencing. How is adolescence gaining access to cigarettes and what are the effects of smoking cigarettes? Adolescents smoke cigarettes as a result of peer pressure at school, what they see their parents do, and following social media influencers. To begin, studies have shown that “Adolescence is the primary period during which smoking begins and develops in 2020, 74% of middle schoolers and 85% of high schoolers reported using tobacco products” (Nguyen). Smoking cigarettes is not permitted in schools; however, students find ways to obtain cigarettes and introduce them to their peers. How are obtaining cigarettes? "I started smoking because my friend brought it from home, and we used to smoke it behind the school or in the bathroom; I know it's bad, but I don't want to look like a punk, " a young man said in an interview (personal interview). One of the ways adolescences obtain cigarettes is from the adults they are around. Parents who smoke cigarettes should practice awareness. Adolescence, are at an age where they might know what they are doing is wrong but they will still do it. Adolescents will find ways to outsmart school security in order to get cigarettes on the school compound despite the consequences. Smoking cigarettes in school to look cool is one of the reasons many adolescents started to smoke cigarettes. To further illustrate, social media and the music industry also contribute to influencing adolescents to smoke cigarettes. Adolescence tends to follow what they see on Tic Toc or in music videos. Once their favorite artist or influencer does something it appears cool adolescence and they also as result follow. For example, singer snoop dog and Miley Cyrus constantly post pictures of themselves smoking. However, should influencers take into consideration what they post on social media and the impact it might have on those who follow them? An influencer could argue it is not their responsibility but it’s the parent’s responsibility to control what their children subscribe to. influencers do have a significant impact on adolescent lives and decision-making, and they too with parents should practice taking proper precautions when smoking cigarettes and how their behavior can affect adolescents. Adolescences are greatly influenced by what they see on social media, and it has become a significant part of this era. The brain of adolescence is still developing and smoking cigarettes can impact their growth and how they function in their daily lives. “Cigarette smoking causes substantial medical conditions in adolescents, along with a rise in the number and severity of lung diseases, a decrease in overall strength, and possible implications on lung structure and development” (Association). The nicotine in cigarettes can be a gateway to other drugs. For example, marijuana, when an adolescent becomes addicted to smoking cigarettes, there is a high chance they will try marijuana and it is highly likely they will continue to try other drugs. Adolescents are at risk of becoming addicted to even more deadly drugs such as crack. According to john Hopkins university: People who had smoked cigarettes were more probable to use illegal drugs, and 65. 8 percent of those surveyed who had ever smoked were seven times more probable to have tried marijuana. Adolescents 12 to 15 years old who smoked cigarettes, were 44 times more likely to use crack, especially in comparison to only a twofold risk in people who are 50 years old and up. (“Cigarette Smoking Gateway to Illegal Drug Use | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health”) In contrast, it is true that adolescents are harming their health when they smoke cigarettes. But there is also secondhand smoking which can be more deadly than smoking cigarettes. “Secondhand smoking could indeed harm adolescents' and adults' health; it can even be fatal. As of 1964, approximately 2, 500, 000 nonsmokers had died directly from health problems caused by secondhand smoking” (CDC). Smoking cigarettes among adolescents once again comes back to the adults that are around them. Adults are contributing to harming the health of adolescence not just by unintentionally giving them access to obtain cigarettes, but by smoking cigarettes in front of them. In an interview with Kayden “My father smokes cigarettes every morning at the table in front of me. After he gets home from work and after he eats his dinner, my father smokes cigarettes and marijuana at home. I smoke marijuana with my friends, but he doesn't know" (personal interview). This is clear evidence that parents are one of the major contributors to adolescent smoking. children observe their parents' actions and adolescents believe that if their mother or father smokes they can also smoke. Adolescences smoking cigarettes are taking deadly chemicals into their bodies. Adolescence may see smoking cigarettes as a way to be cool or rebellious. Smoking cigarettes may begin as a fun activity with friends. Cigarette smoking is extremely hazardous to adolescences health and can potentially be fatal. Cigarettes contain hazardous ingredients that are harmful to the human body and can result in respiratory illnesses, heart disease, a decrease in physical fitness, and tooth decay. Cigarettes contain Ammonia, which is a house cleaner there is also Benzene found in gasoline these are not healthy for the human body. Adolescents can easily become addicted to the additives that are placed in cigarettes. For example, cigarettes contain nicotine an additive that can have serious effects on the body. According to Swedish: Nicotine as well as other additives from cigarette smoke are incorporated into adolescents' bodies every time they smoke a cigarette. Nicotine goes into the bloodstream and reaches the nervous system way quicker than drugs that enter our blood vessels. Nicotine impacts many areas of the body; it changes how the body processes food, causes our heart rate to increase, our pulse to quicken, our blood pressure to rise, and our blood vessels to tighten, making blood circulation all throughout the body more complicated. (Swedish, n. d. ) In conclusion, Cigarette smoking has the potential to kill adolescence. The chemicals in cigarettes are harmful and result in deadly diseases. Adolescences gain access to cigarettes at that age as a result of careless smoking parents, and it is then passed on to others in the school environment. Cigarette smoking may begin as a social activity with friends. According to the research conducted, smoking cigarettes can be a gateway drug to other drugs, such as marijuana. While social media influencers play a role in promoting smoking among adolescents, it is not the influencers' responsibility to guide adolescent decision-making; it begins at home.