1. Teen Smoking By: Kate Phillips
Lately a problem has occurred with teen smoking. The number of
teens who smoke has dramatically risen over the past years. This is a
problem because smoking causes big health risks that lead to problems and
diseases that can kill you. Teens are mainly smoking when there is no
supervision. It usually occurs in the parks, under bridges, and in town away
from their parents. They are usually doing it because of peer pressure and
they think it is cool. Those are the reasons why smoking is bad, and why,
when and where their doing it.
One of my solutions to stop smoking is by educating the teens and
their parents. Schools could have after school classes that tell the hazards of
smoking. In the classes they could talk about is how bad smoking is to your
health. They could also show the parents some visuals showing how
smoking ages your skin and yellows your teeth. In the classes they could
also show or tell the parents what will happen to their kids if they do not
stop smoking. This would hopefully convince them to stop buying cigarettes
for their kids. It would also be important to teach both the students and
parents about the health risks/ problems and diseases smoking can cause
such as cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. Finally you could have
motivational speakers come in and talk to the parents and teens. They could
talk to the families about alternatives to smoking and share their
experiences. That would be my first step to end teen smoking.
My second solution on how to stop smoking is by stopping the media
that supports smoking. First, we could stop magazine ads. I think stopping
magazine ads would be a good idea because teens are always reading
magazines and seeing the pictures in them. If you do not have the ads in
print, the “glamour” of smoking would be lessened. Next, we could get rid
of clothing that promotes cigarettes or smoking. It would be a good idea
because teens are always having to deal with peer pressure. So, if it is not on
the market or in stores, teens will not think of it as being “cool”. Lastly, we
could stop advertising smoking on television and in movies. One reason
why, you should stop having actors/actresses advertise smoking because
teens look up to them and want to be like them. Also, kids and teens are
always watching television and movies. That would be my second step in
stopping teen smoking.
If I was having to begin today with stopping smoking by teenagers I
would begin by stopping the media that supports smoking. One reason why I
think this is the best idea is because teens or kids are always seeing these

2. advertisements. If teens or kids are not seeing the advertisements they want
think it is so “cool”. If famous or rich people are seen smoking in
advertisements, teens are likely to think that smoking is part of that lifestyle.
Because teens look up to these people, they think if they smoke they will be
cool like the actors/ actresses who do. You always see the big billboards
with the flashy pictures of the people with cigarettes in their hands or
hanging out of their mouths. Also you always see the big company names
displayed all over the gas stations and in many other places such as Camel,
Marlboro, Pall Mall, Coral, and Winston who are always saying smoking
will make you feel good about yourself and it will make you cool. Actually,
it does the opposite. The media does not show pictures of the health issues
that smoking causes. That is why I think getting rid of the media is the best
solution to the problem.
Something can be done. Action can be taken to start to solve this
problem. First, everybody needs to go out and talk to the companies and
convince them to take down any pictures with cigarettes and signs of the
company’s names that promote smoking. You can also talk to those people
who help make the laws for our state and country. Secondly, we need to talk
to the companies to end clothing lines that have pictures or words on them
that promote smoking and ban television and movies that have any type of
smoking or cigarettes in them. Those are the ways that I think we could
solve this problem so we can put an end to teen smoking.