Why Are More Teenagers Smoking

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Teenagers Smoking Why are more teenagers smoking? The big, neglected issue nowadays is teenage smoking. The American Lung Association estimates that every minute, four thousand eight hundred teenagers will take their first drag off a cigarette and about 80% of adult smokers started smoking as teenagers. Why do they smoke when we have seen that billions of dollars have been spent on antismoking campaigns? There are different reasons why more teenagers start smoking; some of them are peer pressure, media influence, and it is convenience to get cigarettes. The first main and common cause for teenage smoking is peer pressure. Teenage smokers have common experiences in which they feel like they are not part of the school and they feel isolated from other students. Teenage smokers usually befriend with those who smoke too, the need to fit in and to feel like they belong in the group is extremely important which lead them to smoke as a fulfillment to be accepted (Lewis & Brizer, 2008). It is undeniable that most teens get their first cigarettes from friends. With encouragement from their friends, they will take their first puff and eventually will get addicted to it and keep puffing it for the next years of their life. This is because when the body becomes accustomed to the presence of nicotine in the cigarettes, it then requires the use of the chemical to help the body to function normally. This level of dependence is referred to as an addiction. Hence, peer pressure is the main cause of teenage addiction towards smoking. Other than that, media influence is also another cause of increase in teenage smoking. Films and dramas industry plays the biggest role; there is at least one scene where the actors would look so cool while smoking or a wealthy guy sitting by his table in a luxurious room, puffing a cigar. Portrayals of smoking in the media are nearly all

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