Smoking has been reduced over the past two decades, but “cigarette smoking among college students is of concern because the smoking prevalence among college students did not decrease as it did among the general population,” (Harrar et al. 121). This statement shows the significance of efforts to reduce smoking among college students. I believe college campuses would benefit from a “no-smoking policy”. This policy would serve to eliminate the harmful effects of smoking and second-hand smoke on campuses. If students and faculty are not permitted to smoke on campus, they will have to travel off campus to smoke. Therefore, if smoking on campus property is prohibited, smokers will be inconvenienced, so many students may quit or at least …show more content…
Although this shows why people continue to smoke, I believe there is another aspect of using tobacco that is more important. This aspect is why people start to use tobacco products. Without motive to begin using tobacco, countless lives would be saved, and the addictive drug found in tobacco would not be an issue (Murphy-Hoefer, Alder, and Higbee 371). There are many reasons why people begin using tobacco products, and it has been shown that 88% of smokers that smoke on a daily basis report that they started using tobacco products by the age of eighteen (CDC). This statistic supports emphasis on trying to reduce smoking for young adults and teenagers. Many teenagers claim that they began smoking to “fit in”. Numerous young people also admit to trying tobacco products because of peer pressure and social situations. Teenagers are more likely to conform to fit in with a certain group, or to meet a certain social norm because they want others to like them. Believe it or not, peer pressure can be a very powerful thing. Although many people like to view themselves as being in control, others can easily influence the mind. This explains why so many teenagers and young adults give in to smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products. Being an eighteen-year-old college student, I understand that life is very stressful and that it sometimes can be hard to fit in. However, I also believe that there are
The American College Health Association recommends that colleges and universities "Develop a strongly worded tobacco policy that reflects the best practices in tobacco prevention, cessation, and control.” More and more colleges need to push the Tobacco free
Cigarette companies use trends, age, culture, and other things to hook a person to their product. The companies mainly target teens because of their ignorance and teens who get addicted that young will likely be customers for life. Tobacco is promoted on almost every television network and 1/3 of adolescent experimentation with smoking results from the advertising. (Tobacco Free Broome and Tioga) Not only are cigarettes promoted on TV, but their promoted throughout everyone’s lifestyle. Maybe a role model you have, maybe one of your parents, or maybe a celebrity you enjoy following... any one of these people could smoke and the mindset of many is, “if they’re doing it, so can I”. Mike Magee smoked his first L&M cigarette when he nine years old, his parents smoked and kept cigarettes in the house and therefore they were accessible. He and his siblings said that learning how to smoke was
How dangerous is second-hand smoke? The Indiana Prevention Resource Center also tells us that it contains more than 300 known poisons, including such deadly substances as nicotine, arsenic, cyanide, carbon monoxide, phenol, and formaldehyde (internet). According to a study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a thorough analysis of the many respiratory studies on the health effects of second-hand smoke concluded that it caused lung cancer among non-smokers (internet). According to Bill Alder and Steve Allen, the Environmental Protection Agency and Naval Research Laboratory estimated that between five hundred and five thousand non-smokers die each year of lung cancer alone from exposure to cigarette smoke (18). I, for one, am outraged by this! How can studies so obviously prove the dangers of second-hand smoke, yet action on campus against it is confined only to buildings and not applicable to the entire campus? The risks that are inflicted upon non-smokers by second-hand smoke are far too great to allow this jeopardous activity to continue.
One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly
Many smokers, like Sload, take their first puffs in college. Other students experiment with cigarettes in high school but start smoking heavily in college. Everyone I surveyed and interviewed is aware that smoking was responsible for the deaths of many people every year. They know it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke and adversely affects breathing and the lungs. And like smokers of any age, many college students are actively trying to quit. Mandie Sload knows that for or five cigarettes a day were four or five too many. She plans to quit someday. She understands that if she quits her breath will smell better;
The next reason why Bowling Green State University should ban smoking on campus is that it will create a better campus environment. Having a great campus environment for all students should be at the top of the university’s list of goals. By passing this smoking ban, it allows non-smoking students to walk around campus in peace knowing smoke won’t be entering their bodies. Now this is where smokers have the biggest argument. The university must still remember the smokers; this they do by giving the smokers the ability to smoke in designated areas. Of course this will still take away some of the smokers’ rights, but it is a fair trade if it possibly keeps major life changing diseases out of young college students’ bodies. Also doing this helps
Smoking at Ashland University is a problem. However, the problem of smoking has been raging for nearly 200 years. The reason this problem keeps raging is because there is not an easy solution. The problem of smoking and the arguments against it touch almost every aspect of life. There are not only scientific arguments, but ethical, legal, medical, social, and a host of others fronts that can be used for and against tobacco and smoking. At Ashland University it is no different. There are many factors that must be considered before making a decision to ban all smoking on all outdoor areas of Ashland’s campus.
Did you know, smoking causes more than” 440,000 deaths” per year? (“Effects of Tobacco” 1). That is an overwhelming number of deaths that could be prevented if only the individuals did not use tobacco. As of 2008, East Tennessee State University has adopted a tobacco-free policy for not only the safety of students, but their overall mental and physical health as well. That policy has been increasing on college campuses at a nationwide level. As of 2009, the American College Health Association adopted a position statement on a no tobacco use policy that encourages colleges and universities to become 100% tobacco free. As you can assume this has caused major debates on whether these policies should be established or not. In our current society, because of the policy many schools have chosen to be a part of that movement. There are 1,713 smoke free campuses and 1,427 100% tobacco free campuses in the United States. These numbers are substantial. There are many reasons that campuses should adapt tobacco-free policies on their university school grounds. Tobacco should be banned from ETSU, and other college campuses because it is a health hazard to the smokers and bystanders, it encourages individuals to stop smoking or never to start, and it makes the transition from school to the career field much easier.
The smoke-free policy at the University of Texas at Austin and the presence of such signs around campus helps prevent college students from beginning to smoke, contributing to the future health of students, and prevents the ill effects of secondhand smoke on everyone on
Although it was found that people at four year colleges smoked significantly less than those who went to two year colleges or didn’t go to college at all, almost a quarter of the participants at four year universities had smoked within the last thirty days, but only 20% considered themselves smokers. People who attend college seem to shy away from admitting that they are smokers, possibly because of their exposure to people who are more health-conscious that make admitting that they regularly smoke intimidating. Their denial not only causes the number of college students who are smokers that have been found in other studies may be lower than reality, but also contributes to the overall resistance to quitting. If people that smoke do not consider themselves smokers, they are not going to see smoking as something they need to quit. Adding to that, most of the student smokers surveyed f interest in wanting to quit within a year, but significantly less had attempted quitting in his or her lifetime (46%). This data shows that most smokers want to quit but have not actually taken the steps to do so. With cessation programs and other various forms of encouragement, some of these students might be able to quit smoking for good. If policies are to be implemented to encourage students to quit smoking, the policies must be
In the United States today, more than forty six million Americans are addicted to cigarettes. More people have died due to cigarette smoking than from narcotic drugs, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War combined (Bailey 1). The annual death toll for cigarette smoking is more than four-hundred thousand Americans a year, and is the number-one preventable cause of death in the United States. If Americans are aware of the lethal effects of smoking, why is it still so popular? Guy Smith, a Phillip Morris Tobacco Company executive, claims that their research shows that advertising is the top reason people start smoking (Bailey 34). Most people will argue that this is not true because the do not like to be “sold” and
Teenage smoking can be a result of the influence of other teens, or maybe the amount of peer pressure. This can cause a teen to want to smoke or even think about smoking (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Statistics show that 794 student and 22.4 percent of teens claimed to be tobacco users. (Alcid, Arthur, page 1). Teens tend to be more abrasive when smoking, and seem to act different while smoking and once they have gotten into the habit of smoking make it a constant thing. In 2003, 21.9 percent of high school students currently smoke cigarettes (Alcid, Arthur, page 1).
Smoking, as one knows it, has become a stress-reliever worldwide. One will find a smoker pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up around every corner. Smoking has especially become a growing problem in college campuses. When a college student enters the college campus, they do not only enter a new campus, a new life is also entered. In this new experience, one will find themselves exploring new things. The power of the eye is remarkable in today’s society. When someone has a friend that is doing something, the one looking will eventually want to try as well. This can raise many red flags that can be avoided, simply by banning smoking on all college campuses. Smoking on college campuses should be banned because of nicotine’s negative effect on student’s personalities, academics, and overall health.
Tobacco; one of the most profitable products in history, an addictive substance, and a deadly killer. Smoking tobacco used to be a thing that was endorsed in American society. Now, with the new medical advances and knowledge, society has seen the side effects of smoking and how fatal it actually is. Teenagers have been one of the largest age groups that have been affected by smoking. After analyzing all possible reasons as to why teenagers would smoke while knowing it can affect their health, three possible reasons stuck out the most. Teenagers smoke despite knowing the health problems that originate from smoking because of peer pressure, an “invincibility” mentality, and seeing a role model or family member smoke.
In today’s day and age, there has been many rules and policies put into place to limit the amount of tobacco that is being consumed in public places such as work and school grounds. York Technical College is no different. York Technical College prohibits the use of all tobacco products including “vaping dispensers” and “electronic cigarettes”. The tobacco policy that is stated in York Technical College Catalog & Handbook is concise and reasonable. Not only is the policy clear as it is also up to date with the new inventions of smokeless tobacco.