According to smoking statistics, approximately 80% of adult smokers began smoking as teens. Each day more than 3,000 youth become new smokers. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, killing more than 440,000 people in the United States each year. It is the cause of more deaths than motor vehicle accidents, alcohol, and AIDS combined. Raising awareness of the prevalence and dangers of teen smoking may assist in keeping our youth tobacco free.
It is important to talk to every child about tobacco use from a young age. However, some teens are at greater risk for this self destructive behavior than others. According to a study done by the Mayo Clinic, only 2% of teen smokers do not have a parent who also smokes. Setting a good example might be the most powerful tool for preventing teen tobacco use. Some other contributing factors of teenage smoking include a low socio-economic status, lack of parental involvement/support, low self-esteem, and peer pressure.
Teen smoking is associated with other behavioral issues, such as drug and alcohol use, violence, and high risk sexual behavior. Plus, it is a major risk for lung cancer or other types of cancer and lung illness. Smoking is so addictive that even most teens who smoke regularly state the desire to be able to quit. Even though they will admit they knew it was unhealthy when they took up the habit, they still made the decision to smoke. However, there are many tactful approaches for raising tobacco free teens.
