The problem of tobacco use among children and teenagers is one that continues to persist despite efforts made by parent and health professionals to instruct young people about the hazards of smoking. In fact, of all people who will ever smoke, 90 percent of them begin before the age of 19. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children start smoking around age 12 and become regular smokers before age 14.
Why light up the first place?
Knowing the dangers associated with tobacco use, why then are so many young people choosing to light up? Crafty advertising executives are able to lure young people in smoking by turning cigarettes into symbols and portraying smoking in a glamorous and sophisticated light.
The tobacco industry continues to encourage young people to smoke, and teenagers continue to do so. Since the early days of motion pictures, smoking has often been portrayed as mature and debonair, as demonstrated by such Hollywood legends as Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Today, that image remains firmly embedded in the psyche of Hollywood, even though medical researchers have exposed a considerable bit more about the dangers associated with the glamour.
Often teenagers start smoking to seem older, to rebel, to seem cool or to be accepted.When they link up with friends who smoke, then it seems natural that they should smoke, as well. Peer pressure, both explicit and implicit, can provide young people with a strong motivation to start smoking.
Young people also learn from example. When they grow up in families where one or both parents smoke, or older brothers and sisters smoke, then there is a stronger likelihood that that child will smoke, as well.