Teen Smoking Essay

Kyle Berube, Nick Ruggiero, Josh Tobin
Ms. Brooks
English 11-1
June 12, 2015
Teen Smoking
Peer pressure, to availability, to promotion, to the main cause, negative influences. These are some reasons that cause teens to smoke before the age of 18. Peer pressure is one of the most common effects that cause teens to smoke or try something that shouldn’t be tried. Especially when hanging with friends, a lot of teens get pressured into doing things and one of them is smoking. Friends pressure them into smoking and that’s when they try to fit in so they won’t get teased or become ashamed because they didn’t want to try it. Promotion or availability is when teens get influenced by watching adults such as relatives, parents, aunts and uncles smoke. They pick up that vibe where in their mind they are thinking "If they can do that, then why can’t I?" Also when teens watch someone they look up to as a role model, they follow them because they want to be just like them, but one day not realizing they are picking up a bad habit that shouldn’t be followed. Even favorite singers, actors etc., are strong influences on young teens. Availability is another, especially when parents allow their kids to smoke and also giving them the cigarettes to smoke or some go to a gas station and have someone older get a pack of cigarettes for them because of being underage. (Due to peer pressure, 2003) Negative influence is another; it is caused by peer pressure or the wrong peer group, which could be friends with a problem in their life that they would rather not say anything about. So it is their behaviors that is a negative influence for other teens, also their adult family members like their parents, aunties, uncles and cousins. They also can pressure teens to do things that they do, for example: when a teen wants to try something, parents motivate them to try it. That’s when teens have negative influence not only by friends but someone close to you that you would never think would do such a thing like pressuring you into something. During the World War I era, cigars were smoked primarily by the wealthy but when cigar companies had left over tobacco they used them to make cigarettes. Usually the lower class would smoke cigarettes. Eventually they started to mass produce the product and more and more people started to smoke them. After many years the cigarette is still smoked by all classes of citizens all over the world. Cigarettes have actually become a stimulant for most people. Writers, musicians, and painters are just a few examples of people who use cigarettes to isolate themselves in their own world to think of creative ideas. (American Lung Association, 2008)
About 20 to 30 years after World War I doctors started to notice an increase in lung cancer. Nicotine is the ingredient everyone knows in cigarettes but there are many more, many poisonous ingredients. A cigarette consists of about 4,000 dangerous chemicals such as Ammonia, a household cleaner; Angelica root extract, which is known to cause cancer in animals, Arsenic, which is used in rat poisons; Benzene, this is used in making dyes and synthetic rubber; Butane, a gas used in lighter fluid; Carbon Monoxide, which is a poisonous gas; Cadmium, which is used in batteries; Cyanide, a deadly poison; DDT, a banned insecticide; Ethyl Furoate, causes liver damage in animals; Lead, which is poisonous in high doses; Formaldehyde, which is used to preserve dead specimens;
Methoprene, which is an insecticide; Maltitol, a sweetener for diabetics; Napthalene, an ingredient in mothballs; and Polonium, a cancer-causing radioactive element. The main three components in a cigarette are Nicotine, Carbon Monoxide, and Tar, which all cause disease. (No Smoking Day, 2009)
Teen smoking is one of the biggest things that happen not only in America, but all over the world. The effects of smoking at such a young age can affect you in the long term because of all the harmful chemicals inside. Just inside

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