A large number of youngsters are inclined towards smoking because of the media portrayal of it as a stress buster or simply a ‘cool’ habit. In reality, it is nothing but slow poisoning yourself to a painful death.
igh school or college is the place from where students start making lifelong decisions on their own. But it is a dangerous phase at the same time, for it is also here that youngsters adopt healthy habits or start making some bad choices. Among that many bad habits that students can develop while coping with the transition from high school to university is smoking. Recent survey done by WHO shows that almost 80% adult smokers developed the bad habit while they were in college. Since 1980 health organizations, governments, and non-profits are battling to lower the effect of this social evil and plenty of studies have been done to identify the potential risk factors. A study done by Standaz reveals that each day about 3,200 children and teens under 18 years old smoke their first cigarette. Another alarming thing that is making the situation even worsen is that most of these students who start it believe that smoking isn’t bad for them or will not harm them in the near future.
Reasons
In order to keep our students away from this habit we must dig deep and think about the major temptations that lead young teens to smoke. Studies have been done on this issue and found that normally students have adopted this harmful habit because of several reasons, such as to enhance their image among mates, to stay in fashion, to ease stress, to boost concentration, to attract the opposite sex, to express independence, to try new things with their friends or simply a way of rebelling. On the other hand due to heavily budgeted marketing campaigns young students are becoming more open to the idea of smoking as these multibillion ads are portraying smoking as thrilling, glitzy, and innocuous.
To Do
Though many perquisites have been adopted by educational institutions to discourage smoking, smoking among students has increased in last decade. Therefore, educational institutes around the globe must go to an extra mile if they want to keep pupils away from harm’s way. Smoking bans in institutional premises must be observed strictly while effective community-wide strategies and policies should be adopted to counter smoking habit in students. Regular information sharing events related to potential harms of smoking must be conducted by educational institutes along with a permanent counselling body that is accessible for every student who wants help in quitting smoking.
It is a collective responsibility of parents, teachers and education institutes to help students keep away from the injurious practice of smoking
According to stats, teens whose parents smoke are more likely to adopt this habit so it’s a good idea to arrange on campus meetings with parents and guide them how they can keep their kids from getting hooked. Another great thing educational institutes can start to make an immediate effect is to develop specific content to tell students that if they get addicted, it will be tough to quit easily.
A study done by Standaz reveals that each day about 3,200 children and teens under 18 years old smoke their first cigarette
It’s the collective responsibility of parents, teachers and education institutes to help students in order to stop their indulgence in the injurious practice of smoking. Around the world, smoking is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths and it’s time that educational institutes step up efforts and play a role to prevent its students from getting involved in this unhealthy habit.
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