by Angie Pollock

Created on: August 17, 2010

Among the many substances that teens may experiment with, cigarettes rank at the top as one of the most addictive products they can try. Just one puff leads to an entire cigarette, into two cigarettes, and then an entire pack. It’s that easy to become addicted to smoking. But what makes a teenager want to try a product that they are warned against? There are a variety of factors that not only influence a teen to smoke but actually encourage the habit.  

Peers
The common catchphrase “peer pressure” – it’s used time and time again. Although a friend may not be stuffing a cigarette in your teen’s mouth to pressure him or her to smoke, just being around friends who smoke can start a chain reaction. Your teen wants to be like their close friends and if they smoke, chances are, your teen will also smoke.

Family
Teens that have a parent or close family member who smokes have a higher chance of taking up the habit than kids in a non-smoking home environment.  According to Medical News Today, “children whose parents smoked are twice as likely to begin smoking between 13 and 21” years of age.

Attention
Some teens are yearning for attention and when they aren’t given any, they search for ways to get it – even if it’s negative attention. A cigarette says in the teen’s mind “Yeah, look at me, I’m smoking, I’m a big deal.” They feel like the cool-kid in town and yet with every puff, cool kid is slowly destroying vital organs of his body.

Hollywood
If you think that smoking in the movies has declined due to the image it portrays – think again. Tobacco Facts reports that “In 2009, more than half of PG-13 films and more than two-thirds of R-rated films featured tobacco imagery”.  And the National Cancer Institute has determined that smoking portrayed in the movies does lead to smoking in adolescent kids.

Advertising
Although tobacco advertising is regulated, there are ways that tobacco companies have found to market their products.  Some anti-tobacco groups claim that these advertisements are aimed at our youth.  The Master Settlement Agreement of 1998 prohibits tobacco companies from targeting children however;  Camel No. 9 cigarette ads that have ran in popular magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan appeared to be geared towards the young with the pink and hip ad.

USA Today reported that R.J. Reynolds promoted the new Camel No. 9 brand with

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