Preview

Social Consequences Of Teen Smoking In The United States

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2320 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Social Consequences Of Teen Smoking In The United States
Teen smoking is a very real issue. Although the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that teen smoking is down since the 1990s, the problem has remained relatively stable throughout the 2000s. Teen smoking still affects 54 percent of high school students, and one in three who start smoking as a teen will die later of smoking related causes.
It is very important to prevent teen smoking. But in order to do that, one must first understand why many teens start smoking in the first place.
Causes of teen smoking
There are different reasons why teenagers start smoking. Very few of them start with the idea that they will keep smoking. Indeed, the CDC reports that only three out of 100 high school students that smoke think that they will still be
…show more content…
For some teens, these social consequences may be more concerning than the health ones. Keep reading for more on the social consequences of smoking.

Social Consequences of Smoking

Smoking is marketed to young people as being a cool thing to do. The media often portrays tough or attractive people smoking, though this trend has been changing in recent years. More people are beginning to realize now that smoking has a negative impact on their social lives and opportunities, and this is why many young people choose not to smoke or want to quit. In fact, teens who realize that smoking affects their social life by driving away friends or dating partners are more likely to quit smoking.
Some of the negative social consequences of smoking are based on what smoking does to the person's body. Tobacco can:
• Stain teeth yellow. It can be expensive to try to whiten teeth stained by smoking. Having yellow teeth makes a person look older and is unattractive to others.
• Stain fingernails and skin. People can develop yellow fingernails and skin from smoking, which also makes them look unhealthy and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Smoking Is Bad

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages

    First of all, smoking affects a smoker physically and mentally. Nicotine in cigarettes or cigars is a highly addictive substance. The tar and carbon monoxide in cigarettes increase a smoker’s risk of heart diseases, brain tumors and lung cancers. According to North East Valley Division General Practice, a risk of a stroke is 25 percent likely to occur in male smokers. The nicotine increases cholesterol levels in smokers’ bodies. Men who smoke are also ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers. Smoking is harmful to the respiratory and circulatory systems. It causes high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes. A person’s appearance is changed when smoking. A smoker’s skin, nails and teeth are stained and his breath is stink like smoke. For female smokers, their cervix, and uterus are vulnerable to cancer. They might also develop fertility difficulties. For pregnant female smokers, it incurs premature birth, miscarriage and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Inhalation of tobacco smoke by nonsmokers has been found to increase the risk of heart disease and respiratory problems. On top of it all, smoking affects our next generation. Children who are…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Satire About Addiction

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Also, peer pressure. Also many children start smoking because their friends have tried it or smoke themselves. Also children may have started as they have grown up in an environment where their parents, grandparents and older siblings smoke, and so they smoke in order to look and act like them. Other children start smoking as an act of rebellion or defiance against their parents or people of authority. As these are just a couple reasons to why people smoke there are…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Electronic Cigarettes

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Smoking is still an unhealthy problem amongst teens, even though many add campaigns and other private corporations dealing with media such as MTV have taken wide steps to spread the awareness of what cigarettes do to the young population of America. Cigarettes are an evil in the heart of all youth, many are tempted and pure pressured into the partaking of smoking mainly because of the mass ignorance of the horrific side effects that are caused by them. The effects of tobacco vary from person to person depending on their weight, size, and overall health. People who are used to taking in tobacco are more likely to have a built up resistance to the side effects. The amount taken is also a big factor in the determination and signs of use just…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Atherosclerosis Causes

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In spite of all the health warnings, teenagers continue to get hooked on tobacco even though they all know that it 's bad for them. Why do teens start to smoke? Teens find acceptance by peers if they smoke too. They often use cigarette smoking to avoid the pressures of everyday living.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nicotine

    • 1772 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The biggest factor of teen smoking is Peer Pressure. If your friends pressure you into smoking then they're obviously not good mates to have. It is not a stable friendship when someone is being pressured into something. Many worry that if they say 'no' they're mates will think they're stupid but you have to realise they are the stupid ones.…

    • 1772 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many teenagers aren’t aware of all the health issues that they may suffer from in the future, mainly because they are just living in the moment and don’t have time to worry or even think about the consequences of their actions. There is many important external effects that smoking can have on teens such as premature aging, stains on your teeth, tooth decay and a pungent smell of smoke on your body which is something that most teens would hate. While smoking cigarettes at a young age you may also experience respiratory…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An astonishing 95% of the students (who were current smokers during the survey) have peers who also smoke, 59% of these students have at least a parent who smokes and 44% have siblings who smoke.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Worldwide, there are about six million deaths each year from illnesses that are traced back to tobacco use. Also, for every person that dies, at least thirty people live with serious smoke-related health complications (Smoking and Tobacco Use, CDC 2015). There are many factors that shape smoking to be unhealthy, but why are people still choosing to do it…especially the youth? Does the youth know/understand these factors that make smoking so unhealthy? It is good that people are trying to form alternatives of smoking, but looking into these alternatives, it has been proven to be almost as bad as just smoking. To get rid of these questions completely, kids need to be fully educated on tobacco use and effects. Smoking is still a major…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The tobacco can cause gingivitis or periodontitis, these problems can lead to tooth decay, tooth loss, and bad breath. It also increases the risk of mouth. Throat, larynx, and esophagus cancer. Smoking also has an effect on insulin, making your more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Your sexual and reproductive system also is affected. Men and women who smoke are at higher risk of infertility. It also makes women more likely to experience menopause and increases the risk of cervical cancer.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Lung Association reports that teens who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime find it hard to quit, even if they want to do so. Some teens develop addictions even more quickly, and they experience cravings for nicotine quite soon after initiating cigarette use. Teens can also become addicted to the process of smoking, finding it difficult to even think about going through the day without the ability to unwrap a pack of cigarettes, flick open a lighter or hear the paper of the cigarette crackle with…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lung Cancer

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cigarettes are full of poison and toxic chemicals, the ingredients affect everything from functions of organs to body 's immune system, the damages can be widespread and fatal. Nicotine is a very toxic chemical present in cigarettes; "it reaches the brain within ten seconds after smoke is inhaled."(1) When taking a long drag of smoke, and enjoys the pleasure of tobacco smoking, the chemicals are rotting the lungs and straining the body. Among the young smokers, many are teenagers, during the recent years, age of teen smokers are decreasing, more and more students came in contract with cigarette and other drugs(2). There are many different factors contributed to the raising number of young smokers; the influence could come from school and from home. Peer pressure is associated with smoking, many students were forced into smoking by their peers; they surrender and give in to smoking because they wanted to feel cool, and most importantly to fit in. Teenagers would really commit to be able to gain acceptance. Hollywood and other media productions associate smoking with manliness, and maturity; it would be natural for students at a young age to get influenced and brain washed into…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Substance Abuse

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The use of tobacco is commonly started in the early 20’s of an adult. There are a number of reasons why people may start to smoke tobacco. As a child growing up, children may see their parents or older siblings smoking cigarettes making them want to try it. As children grow into young adults, they are either pressured into smoking cigarettes or they see their favorite role models smoking cigaerretes. Teenagers usually view cigarettes as the cool thing to do and start becoming regular smoker in the early 20’s. At this age many people have higher risk factors such as having kids, not graduating from college, low paying jobs, or problems with their appearance. Although cigarettes may have a positive feeling as far as calming the person, or realiving stress, there are also negative factors. A persons health is damaged by cigarettes. The nicotine in the cigarette causes psychological and physical dependence making the person believe that smoking is ok when in fact it can cause heart and lung disease. Alcohol causes some of the same effects.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cause and Effect Smoking

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many reasons why people resort to smoking; many of the choices are based on the individual’s decisions. Much of temptation to start smoking is based on the advertising propaganda carried out by cigarette manufacturers. People at home see the images of smoking people on their television screens, in newspapers, and magazines. Children are influenced by their parents and may be mislead to the thinking that smoking poses no danger. Statistics show that about nine out of ten tobacco users start smoking before they are eighteen years old. Peer pressure is another main reason why teenagers choose to do things they shouldn’t do: befriending the wrong group of people who might represent a negative example. Quite often it is the friends who persuade each other to start smoking or purchase a pack of cigarettes only to try what smoking is all about.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Baning Smoking

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On the other hand, smoking have a lot of negative effects. Initially, smoking may bring takers a number of diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, high pressure, etc. Second-hand smoking also does harm to people¡¯s health. Moreover, hatred of non-smokers always go against with smokers, so some conflicts happen frequently. And also some statistics show that thousands of fire accidents worldwide occur each year due to the litter of non-extinguished cigarette ends,…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are many reasons behind the phenomenon of smoking among students. To start with, students smoke because they are curious and want to discover the world of those who smoke. They are just trying to have some fun when they smoke the first cigarette. Other students take up smoking due to the family problems, especially when they see their parents having quarrels. Moreover, some students smoke since they think a cigarette would relieve stress they had during the day, especially at school. Last but not least, students try to imitate adult smokers because they want to show that they are adults, too.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays