Teen Smoking
In this generation more and more young kids are starting to smoke. The average age that Maori youth begin smoking is 11.5 years and the average age for non-Maori youth smokers is 12.7 years. Also evidence is emerging that smoking addiction can be influenced by genetics. Younger kids brains are supposedly more susceptible to nicotine addiction. After just one cigarette people can get addicted and it’s worse for younger teenagers. Also, if a child’s parent and/or caregiver smokes, then that is the most effective predictor of if a child will smoke.
One of the most dangerous consequences from smoking is the diseases and physical problems from nicotine. Smoking kills 5,000 New Zealanders every year! On average, smokers die about 14 years earlier than non-smokers. Just one cigarette can start an addiction, while an addiction can rob you of about 14 years of your life. Smoking can start a range of different types of cancer and many, MANY other smoking-related diseases. Smoking is also the single leading cause of preventable deaths, not only in New Zealand, but internationally. Some teens think that there are safer cigarettes like ‘light’ or ‘mild’ cigarettes. That is not true at all, roll-your-own tobacco isn’t any safer either, in fact, it was found that ‘rollies’ (roll-your-own tobacco) actually has more nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide which makes you have a higher risk of developing a large range of cancers, than smokers with tailor-made cigarettes.
Unfortunately, younger kids are more likely to get addicted to smoking than older people. 1 of 5 teens who are addicted to cigarettes smoke 13-15 times a day and about 30 percent of teen smokers will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease. For kids, teenagers are really cool and the big sister or big brother of a young child is a role model to their younger sibling and the child’s friends, so the younger sibling of a teenager who smokes all day with his friends ends up being a bad role model, showing the kids that smoking is a really cool ‘grown-up’ thing to do, and kids love acting like a ‘grown up’. Also the gradually growing lungs of teens who smoke will not develop fully, which puts them at a higher risk for lung disease.
Another big problem with smoking, is the costs. Just one pack of cigarettes costs $14.50 and many people buy about three packs a week, which is $43.50 and $174 a month which is $2088 a year. $1199 is the cost of the new 32G iPhone 5s. So if that teenager saved up all the money that they used for buying cigarettes they could buy an iPhone 5s in about six and a half months. Imagine that! Stop smoking, get healthier, and get an iPhone 5s! I think that is a pretty good deal.
In conclusion, do you really think that smoking is a reasonable way to spend your gradually minimizing life? If you smoke, than the annoying habit of smoking will steal your life and the only thing it can actually give you is diseases. Not the best way to end life. Think about smoking as a hole that you jumped into, and every day, the deeper you fall, the air gets tighter and one day, you will reach the bottom from such a high speed, that you will finish your life’s short journey, just because as a teenager, you jumped into that hole. Unfortunately, it’s not just adults that make stupid mistakes. Adults have influenced silly teens to start smoking. As if cigarettes aren’t bad enough, not only do they burn holes in your lungs, they also burn holes in your wallet. Have you ever seen those homeless people who sleep on benches and smoke? Those cigarettes have burnt holes in their wallets. Do you want to end up coughing and wheezing all day, walking around all day in the same clothes you wear every day, sleeping on park benches, talking to ducks, and begging innocent people for their money? No. Then either don’t start smoking, or if you already do, STOP SMOKING!!!
