And Article About Smoking Essay Research Paper

WHY DO GIRLS SMOKE?

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Smoking always has been trendy. It goes back to black and white movies. Not anymore though. Glamour and smoking don t associate the way they did before. Cigarettes are being scorned by today s hottest stars on and off the big screen. Widely publicized health risks led to anti-smoking rules in restaurants, offices, malls and even in some bars. People are staring to realize that not only is smoke bad for the smoker but its as bad as the person standing next to the smoker. Smoking is starting to die out, but girls are starting to smoke at a growing rate without knowing why.

A 1997 study by the Centers for Disease Control noted that 34.7 percent of girls identified themselves as smokers by the 12th grade. 15.7 percent of 34.7 percent smoked frequently and the greater percentage of the new smokers were female. There is the percentage and there is information but one thing is missing and that is the answer to why girls smoke. Hundreds of studies and surveys have tried to answer this question. But no matter what the numbers say , something is still missing: No one knows who and what to blame. Why do girls really smoke? More to the point , whose fault is it? A popular approach to understanding is the finger pointing approach.

Our easiest target, the media. As Christina Aguilera or Britney spears perform in front of a live audience or are seen on their music videos , first thing you notice is their body. The flat stomach or just the shape of the body. Most girls want to look just like them. Diets , eating right or exercising is one way to get that but nicotine, an appetite suppressant is a proven shortcut. A recent study of 15,000 kids ages from 9 to 14, Harvard university researchers found that the 17 percent of girls who smoked or were considering smoking , a majority were overly concerned about their weight. The lead researcher Dr.Lindsay A. Frazier has stated in her research that girls who already had tried smoking are twice as likely to diet and engage in bulimic behavior.

This statistic is shocking, after all these are kids between ages of 9 to 14. These ages are supposed to be innocent. Girls should have sleep overs and go to the mall, talk about boys but statistic show that a 14 year old girl would rather risk cancer 20 years later just to look like the girl on t.v.

Back to pointing fingers. The reason for smoking can be as near as the smokers bedroom. Family members and more likely mothers can be blamed for young smokers. According to a 1994 Columbia University study, girls whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are four times more likely than their peers to start smoking at an early age. Nicotine passes the placental barrier and may develop receptor in the brain that make you feel good. This will turn in to extremely addictive effects on nicotine later on.

May girls have different view points why they smoke. Some don t even know why or when it started. Magdalena Ilkiewicz a freshman at George Town University made it clear by saying Once I started I didn t want to stop and I never questioned why I was putting a nasty smelling cigarette in my mouth…..it just felt good . As she goes through the whole college experience a cigarette calms her , she said. She claims that it might be the second hand smoke from her parents that she grew up with and it might be the fact that she was week enough to surrender to peer pressure.

Now the matter is not how it started but now how is it going to end. Magdalena, she tried to quit like 100 times . This isn t surprising. According to the CDC, 82 percent of attempts to quit were unsuccessful. There were many times in Magdalenas life where she just needed a smoke and times where she smells her clothing and asks why do I continue? . As she is about to finish the interview she says quietly If I only remembered why I started smoking , I would have thought about it twice .