Smoking Among Teenagers Essay Example

Smoking Among Teenagers Essay Example Smoking Among Teenagers Paper Smoking Among Teenagers Paper Smoking has become one of the fast favorites in habits among the teenage populations in the UK. This increase in the smoking among this age group is becoming an area of attention as well as concern, as many of the smokers develop their habits at adolescent years. While campaigns to reduce smoking have been successful in the early stages of education in teenagers, it has suddenly dipped low with regards to its effectiveness when the same group ages by two or three years.(BBC, 2004) The trend of smoking has begun to reduce in the adult population in many areas, however, so has there been an increase in the early uptake of smoking among the teenage population. This is mainly not due to lack of awareness on the teenager’s part. Rather, the concern is the deliberate opting for smoking while knowing the hazards of the condition. The increase in the smoking population in teenagers is found to be in as early stages as 11 to 12 years, where the ratios are 2% of boys and girls each. This percentage however increases dramatically when the same groups grow up to ages of 15 or 16, when smoking is seen to be 16% in girls, almost twice the increase in percentage of boy smokers within the same age group. (BBC, 2004) The percentages of smokers continue to rise, and almost half of the current teenagers will admit to have experimented with smoking at one point or the other. The predilection for sex is slowly decreasing. Where once smoking was considered to be a boys’ problem only, it has fast become an even worse problem among the teenage girls. One in five teenage girls was a smoker according to another survey, whereas one in seven teenage boys was a smoker. There has been an increased use of smoke among young girls when compared to boys, as the ratios clearly indicate stated above. BBC reports state that 31% of the teenage girls aged 15 to16 are smokers. (BBC, 2004) This rate is expected to rise further, which is definitely another area of concern. Among the girls this trend is catching hold for the desire of staying slim. (BMJ, 2006) Another factor that increases the risk of smoking among the teenagers is the socioeconomic status of the person. People of poorer backgrounds are more likely to take up smoking. Victims of physical or sexual abuse often resort to smoking for relief, as well as teenagers suffering from depression. (BMJ, 2006) The effects of smoking on the health of an individual are numerous and detrimental, and now recent studies confirm the effect smoking can have on the eyesight as well. Surveys have shown that supplementing this knowledge to teenagers raises a large concern within them, which is even higher than for issues of stroke or heart disease caused by smoke. (Dickinson, 2007) Â  This is one area that has not been sufficiently brought to public notice. Surveys have shown again and again that lack of awareness is not the issue in the increased uptake of smoking in teenagers. Many of the teenagers are sufficiently aware of the role smoking plays in the development of conditions such as lung cancers, stroke etc. and are also concerned about them. But the continued use of smoke despite this knowledge is an issue that is perplexing to analysts world wide. (Dickinson, 2007) Smoking has been known to cause cancers of the lungs. it is also known to cause carcinomas of the oral cavity, the larynx, the esophagus and the bladder. It also causes coronary artery disease which is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Chronic obstructive lung disease is also another complication of smoking. It has shown to complicate matters of reproductive health, and can lead to infertility, preterm delivery, still births and other such gynecological and other obstetric complications. (CDC, 2006) Many aspects have been researched to explain why teenagers smoke or take up smoking. Group acceptance, image projection, rebellion attitude, and adult aspirations are some of the common themes that smoking teenagers try to identify within themselves. The difference of the trend of smoking in adults and teenagers lies in the thinking patterns that prevail at the age. Teenagers want to confirm. For this purpose, they may not reject an idea that is accepted in the group, even while knowing the consequences of a particular action may be negative. This is a different manner for adults who are not so concerned about acceptance issues and instead undertake thinking patterns in their decision making. (TGRW, 1997) In the UK, there is an increased smoking rate among the adolescent females when compared to male counterparts. (Hublet et al, 2006) However, these differences among the genders are still very low when comparing with the adult population statistics. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The study aims to highlight the various issues about teenage smoking among a sample population in the UK. Proper identification of the reasons why smoking is taken up at this particular age will provide insight as to how to alleviate the problem. It aims to ask the teenagers themselves what their perceptions are about smoking and its effects, and how much are they willing to give up the habit. As many of the teenagers are unaware of the untoward health effects of smoking, understanding and estimating their current knowledge can be very helpful in assessing the reasons behind the increased uptake of smoking. It is estimated that by increasing the awareness among the teenagers about the health risks of smoking among the teenagers, their will be an increased interest in quitting smoking or not taking it up altogether.