Why is it Harder for Teens to Quit Smoking 

Watch this video first - it will make you want to quit smoking immediately

Trying to stop smoking is hard enough for most of us. But you may be wondering why is it harder for teens to quit smoking.  Teenagers present an entirely different challenge than do adults when it comes to smoking cigarettes.

One of the major problems found in our society today is teen smoking.  Many parents find many challenges in getting their teens to quit or to keep them from starting smoking in the first place.

Smoking amongst teenagers had been declining sharply since the mid to late 1990s, but recently data shows that smoking among adolescents is beginning to rise slightly.

We as adults are aware of the serious long-term consequences of teenage smoking as well as the risks of smoking related diseases.  But we wonder why is it harder for teens to quit smoking than it seems to be for adults?

There are many different reasons but research seems to point to factors such as having family and friends who smoke, advertising aimed at teenagers, and of course peer pressure.  Other reasons may include teenage rebellion, or perceived help in dealing with feelings of sadness or anxiety.

Below we look at some of the reasons why it may be harder for teens to quit smoking and how you as a parent or caregiver may begin to help.

Parents Who Smoke

If you are a parent who smokes can you honestly be wondering why is it harder for teens to quit smoking?

Teenagers are imitators and tend to imitate those people in their environment who are closest to them.  Having older siblings or parents who smoke is one of a teenagers biggest risk factors for smoking.  Believe it or not your kids tend to copy your behavior.

Teens that have parents who smoke are much more likely to smoke themselves.  Parents who smoke are sending a signal and setting an example for their teenagers.  It is sort of the "do as I say but not as I do" syndrome.

In many homes in America today, teens are doing nothing more than modeling themselves after parents, grandparents, or other so-called role models in their household.

If you are a parent and you smoke, quit smoking before your kids begin.  Or if your kids have already begun to smoke, set the example by showing them that quitting smoking can be done.

Peer Pressure

Another piece of the puzzle concerning why is it harder for teens to quit smoking has to do with peer pressure.

Being accepted among one's peers is a powerful motivator for adolescents.  These young people wanting to fit in with their social groups are at a high risk for behaviors such as smoking.

Often times a teenager will smoke as a way of showing rebellion.  Going against school rules and parental rules by smoking can be seen as a rite of passage in some teenage social circles.

Some teenagers smoke to be cool or to be independent but they all seem to have the same desire to fit in with their peers, friends, or the social group that they think is cool.

Advertising

Although some teenagers admit to peer pressure as being the main reason for beginning to smoke, others admit that cigarette advertisements also played a role. Of course the tobacco industry points exclusively at peer pressure and away from the advertisements they are spending billions on.

States Matthew Myers who is president of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, teenagers are the most important customers to tobacco companies. Tobacco companies seek to lure teens with ads to make them think smoking is cool, he continues.

Cigarette ads tend to glamorize smoking by making smoking appear to be cool and hip. According to psychologist John Pierce, PhD, of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of California, San Diego, "Cigarette advertising dissolves children's resistance to smoking with entertaining graphics-such as Joe Camel-that present smoking as fun, cool and a normal part of living the 'good life'."

These are just a few of the reasons that researchers feel that part of the efforts to keep kids from smoking should focus on educating kids about the manipulation of young people that is so prevalent in the tobacco industry today.

Movies

Most of us as parents tend to underestimate the influence that movies have on children.  Even if we are educating our children to the fact that smoking is unacceptable, having children see their heroes and role models smoking in movies will tend to undermine our message.

Research has shown that the more children see their favorite movie stars smoking in movies, the more likely they will begin smoking.  It is thought that 4 out of every 10 teenagers who smokes today were influenced in some way by the smoking they saw in movies.

The attorneys general in 32 states have recently begun calling for the major movie studios to include anti-smoking public service announcements with all movies where people are shown smoking.

States the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research at the University of California at San Francisco, Stanton Glantz, filmmakers are "delivering 400,000 kids a year to the tobacco industry, and that's wrong. They're abusing their audiences, and their audience's parents, and it's totally unnecessary."

Biology

It is known that nicotine has the ability to suppress one's appetite and also your metabolism.  These characteristics of nicotine make it a popular diet tool primarily for teen girls as well as some women.

Studies conducted by the University of Michigan found that 14 year old girls are two times as likely as boys to try smoking. The concerns given by these girls were fears surrounding their weight.

A number of surveys have indicated that perhaps as much as 30% of teenage girls as well as women give controlling their weight as one of the main reasons for smoking.

States Dr. Margaret R. Rukstalis, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in addictive behaviors, "The relationship between concerns about weight and smoking is dramatic."

And those teenagers who do begin experimenting with cigarettes can become addicted to nicotine much more quickly than can adults.  Young brains, scientists seem to believe, are more receptive biologically to nicotine. This makes it especially hard to stop smoking.

A report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse stated that some adolescents can become addicted within days of beginning smoking.  And it also appears that adolescent girls get hooked on nicotine faster then do adolescent boys.

Not Fully Aware of the Health Risks

If you are still wondering why is it harder for teens to quit smoking, another reason may be that they are not quite fully aware of the health risks of cigarette smoking.

A study recently conducted by the Centers for Disease Control stated that teenagers who begin smoking not only significantly increase their risk of developing lung cancer, but can early on begin showing signs that will eventually lead to heart disease and stroke.

Estimates are that 80% of adults who are smokers today began smoking as adolescents.

Although the health consequences of smoking cigarettes are known to us as adults, many teens don't seem to be fully aware of the long-term adverse health consequences of smoking.

It seems that kids are not fully able to grasp the concept of the damaging effects of tobacco.  A challenge for us as parents is to help these kids begin to understand the long-term effects that smoking will have on them.

What Can We Do

Most experts agree that parents play the most significant role in their kid's decision to not smoke or to quit smoking.

By making it clear to their children that they disapprove of smoking, parents can exert more influence on the behavior of their children than they might think.

It has been shown that teenagers who feel as though their parents would not approve of them smoking were less than half as likely to smoke as kids having parents they thought didn't care. And those that do smoke are more likely to give up smoking.

It is suggested that you get to know the friends that your teenager associates with as well as getting to know the parents of the friends as well.  Having your children's friends over on a regular basis will help in that regard.

Also by the power of your love for your children, you can overcome the negative influences that their peer groups may have over them.  If your children feel that your support and love for them is more important than that of their friends, they will choose your influence over that of their peers.

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