Over the past four or five decades new issues have faced parents, including drugs, the availability of pornography, and Internet predators. One issue hasn't changed. That is concern about young people smoking cigarettes.
Information on the harmful effects of smoking has been accumulating over the years. Even with the conclusive evidence that smoking is a serious danger to health, one-fifth of all high school graduates are addicted to cigarettes, specifically to nicotine. (All statistics are courtesy of the American Cancer Society.)
Similar to the clothes one wears or the hairstyle one chooses, smoking is a statement of who I am. Let's take a look at what a teen is trying to communicate through the use of tobacco:
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I belong. Almost universally, the first time a young person smokes is in a group situation. Nicotine is a poison and usually causes nausea the first few times of smoking. It takes encouragement from friends and some perseverance to get to the point of enjoying or craving cigarettes.
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I am grown up. There are very few adults who would judge a young person's maturity by the amount of tobacco consumed because adults see maturity in relationship to responsibilities. Children, on the other hand, view maturity in terms of privileges. We communicate that smoking is an adult privilege.
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I am tough. No one wants to feel that people are taking advantage of him. One of the ways a person protects himself is by letting others know he is tough. Smoking communicates toughness to other people; even the brands of cigarettes communicate various degrees of toughness.
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I am angry. Many young people are growing up angry. The reasons are many, and the focus of the anger may be toward authority, parents, or themselves. When a teen is angry, smoking may be used to hurt someone.
The final reason young people smoke is that it is truly an addiction. Once smoking has left the experimental stage and has become a habit, there is a very definite addiction to nicotine. Heart rate, digestion, blood pressure, sleep, and temperature are all affected by smoking. The body becomes "used" to functioning with the drug and does not want to revert to functioning without it.
Eighty-five percent of all smokers wish they could quit. The evidence that smoking is harmful is overwhelming. It is reinforced when a teen's lifestyle is affected by bouts of coughing and short-windedness at an age when he should be at the peak of health.
The solution at face value is simple: the risks of smoking need to outweigh the benefits. However, the desire to quit smoking has two enemies - the addiction and the statement that is being made. Addiction may be easier to solve than "the statement." Ninety-five percent of people who quit smoking do it "cold turkey." They do not need the aid of pills, shocks, or counseling. They are willing to make the statement of who they are in less destructive ways and combat their addiction to nicotine. As adults and parents, we do not want to see our children grow up "chained" to a destructive habit. In combating this difficult problem, our goal should be to teach our teens the ability to enjoy and express their uniqueness constructively.
Tim Skrivan currently serves as Vice- President/Field Services of Youth for Christ/USA, and lives in Tacoma, WA.
Reprinted from Parents and Teenagers, Jay Kesler, General Editor,
Youth for Christ/USA, 1984.
