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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Is smoking "uncool"?

If you're a parent these days, chances are you are wondering when your child will face peer pressure to try smoking cigarettes. After all, when we were growing up, almost everyone tried cigarettes, and many went on to continue smoking. It was considered "cool" and fashionable, even after campaigns began to decry the terrible effects that can, and often do, result from smoking.
Those who have personally suffered the ill effects of smoking or have been witness to a loved one's suffering, as well as advocates of the anti-smoking movement will be heartened to realize that the tide continues to turn against smoking. A recent survey by Yahoo! Shine with more than 1000 responders has shown that in the current generation of young people (ages 18-34), the majority are against smoking, and there seems to be an implicit stigma against smoking within this subset of the population. The survey shows that most young people think it is "very uncool" to smoke, and they would not want to date a smoker. They also indicated that smoking is gross and the smell is awful. While all this is encouraging, and may legitimately give parents some relief about this issue, more headway needs to be made to keep this positive trend going in the right direction. For instance, many young people consider smoking in the context of drinking (i.e., social smoking) to be relatively acceptable. The reason for connecting smoking and drinking is the general idea that smoking a cigarette "enhances" the effects of the drinking, providing an extra "buzz."
Thus, it seems that a main area for anti-smoking efforts needs to focus on decreasing social smoking, and specifically on breaking the association between drinking and smoking. Both alcohol and cigarettes are harmful substances with significant addictive potential, as well as considerable detrimental physical effects. Targeted education to counter their use and abuse in a social setting needs to be done both at home and in schools. Young people need to be given consistent messages that there is no benefit from smoking cigarettes, and even on an occasional basis, it is toxic to one's body.
So yes, we've come a long way, but we've not yet arrived. Let's keep the ball rolling!

13 comments:

defcon said...

Smoking smells like sh*t

motsu35 said...

agreed, smoking smells like shit, and the smell sticks to everything...

Tod Woodward said...

I wouldnt like to see it banned, since it's your choice, but it'd be good if it was seen as less of a "cool" thing

Anonymous said...

I don't see a big point in cigarettes, they waste hundreds of dollars a year and they don't have much of an effect. And they smell like shit!!

Anonymous said...

And they give you lung cancer, I forgot about that lol!

Deso said...

I believe some of the TV shows of the past portrayed it as "cool" (Cowboy Bebop comes to mind automatically for me) and so preconventional children with underdeveloped frontal lobes would be likely to think it's cool and not harmful.

Anonymous said...

Smokng sucks realy hard man

Trav said...

I can't believe tobacco companies are getting paid to kill people, oh well. I've tried a cigarette and cigar or two, cigarettes were bad and cigars weren't anything special. I'd advise to stay away from them.

I wouldn't ever let anyone smoke in my house.

Legitcheater said...

I agree, smoking sucks.

Scott said...

Yeah, I don't know why smoking is still legal in this day and age. We know what it does to you. Oh well.

Coco said...

it looks cool, but can bring lung cancer :()

Anonymous said...

Pfft, smoking is pretty damn cool

Doom Generation said...

Hunter S Thompson
James Dean
Most the beatles?
Leo Dicapprio
Benicio Del Toro
Bob. Dylan. (about 60 a day)
the list goes on and on...

and I am just like these people because I am a smoker.

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