Teenagers....why do you smoke when you know how bad it is for you?

Question

I mean, do you really believe that cancer won't happen to you? I've heard many kids say "well I have to die sometime". Do you really feel that your life isn't worth living? And have any of you ever visited your local cancer agency?

I'm not being judgemental...just trying to understand. I know that in the last 25 years or so we have so much more data indicating the dangers of smoking and the schools I am sure preach about those dangers. I find it interesting that most responses talk about the addiction...it must happen quickly after you start smoking. I'm not trying to offend and I'm sorry if I have.

Answer 1

To the teenagers on this post, If you fancy losing your hair, having tubes stuck in your chest for years, having scars over your body, even losing limbs. Seeing friends you have made die in a bed next to you. Spending half of your important teenage years in hospital. Being sick every night. (the list could go on!!) just carry on smoking! Its like being in a snake pit sooner or later your gonna get bitten!.
Yea people think its cool to smoke, also most kids who smoke dont inhale properlly which can lead to mouth cancer, i maybe wrong but the chances serverly reduce of getting a girlfriend/boyfriend when you have half a jaw missing!! I know what your saying now "It wont happen to me!" maybe it wont when your a teenager, but how are you gonna feel when your 45 and dieing of lung cancer, and your going to leave behind a wife/hubby and a few kids, now that does sound cool.
There is something like a 10% chance of you getting some form of cancer in your life time, why the hell would you want increase it!!!

Answer 2

I started smoking in high school. How often, when you were a teenager, did you think about the actions you took effecting your life in 20 or 30 years?? I'm not sure about you, but I think I was a normal kid who thought I was invincible. I lost a grandparent to lung cancer, and was with him throughout his hospice care until his death. I then went on to nursing school and worked for two years watching people die every day of lung diseases. I still rushed out to smoke when I could grab a few minutes. I'm 23 and have already started in with health problems. I quit smoking 4 weeks ago and feel drastically better. So...to answer your question, most kids know it's bad for them, but it doesn't matter. It's "cool" and once your addicted to the nicotine it's a whole different ballgame. Try not to be so judgmental!

Answer 3

I'm currently 21 and started smoking regularly at 17 [anywhere from 0-14 cigarettes a day, but usually around two or three packs a week]. About a year and a half ago my aunt died after over a year of fighting very aggressive ovarian cancer; she wasted away to about fifty pounds and her body finally gave out after the cancer metastasized to her lungs. I was at her bedside almost every day at the end. Half an hour after she died, I was in her backyard having a cigarette.

I know how stupid this sounds; however, I have spent years of my life fighting severe mental issues including anxiety that can get to the point of being literally crippling, severe depression, and hallucinations [visual, auditory, and tactile]. Living in my head is not exactly what one would define as a happy experience. I don't know that my life isn't worth living, but I don't know that it is either. Smoking is soothing. Overall, I considered it the lesser of two evils.

For the record, I did quit a little over a year ago [cold turkey, no problems]. I brought home a kitten and since I still live with my parents I made a deal with them: I got to keep her in exchange for giving up cigarettes. She is completely worth it, but I also know that once I move out I'll probably take up smoking again because I seriously do miss it.

I do a lot of things that aren't undeniably safe. I drive, eat fatty and sugary foods, drink soda, light fires, meet people I got to know on the internet, have casual sex with select trusted partners [we use protection but nothing is infallible], occasionally take small doses of mellowing recreational drugs.. When you think about it, everything can be killing you a little bit at a time. I believe in calculated risk. I won't live my life refusing to indulge in the few things that occasionally bring me pleasure just to gain a few more restricted years that probably won't be any happier than what I have now, but I also won't do anything without first knowing what I'm in for.

And yes, this isn't what you wanted to hear. But you did ask.

Answer 4

I'm not a teen but started smoking as a teen. My mother smoked, and other family around me did as well. I started because a boy i liked smoked. I figured to get to know they guy i could be out in the smoking area with him.

Well i never got the guy, but got the addiction. 12 years later i'm still smoking. know my brothers kids are around and both there mother and father and aunt all smoke. I sat down with them and explained that i wish i hadnt ever started. And that is is so much easier to never start then to quit.

i have tried to quit, and i only hope that by me quitting this will help the kids never start.

Answer 5

NIcotine is a powerfully addictive drug, more so than Heroin. Nicotine can increase your abilty to concentrate and deal with stress (for short periods) that's why so many servicemen came home addicted to tobacco after WW I . Nicotine can even raise your IQ for a short period of time (owing to the fact that you can concentrate better) but the benefits are far outweighed by the health risks, and yet, many people still choose to do it for a variety of reasons. Who wants to live to be a drooling, diaper wearing octagenarian anyways?!?

Answer 6

Because us teenagers see the absolute gayest people on TV trying to convince us not to smoke. Whining puny girly boys and cookie cutter mtv sluts telling us not to smoke. Nobody wants to be a complete douchebag, and the people who protest or complain about smoking are the absolute definition of douchbag.

Answer 7

Smoking is nothing compared to drinking.

Preaching to the wrong choir...I'd rather sit next to a smoker than drive next to a drunk.

Answer 8

Why do you care so much about life when it is meaningless?

Answer 9

they aren't thinking about the future