Teen Smoking

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