Addicting Suicide--
Teenage Smoking
People all over the world still have yet to understand just why they started to smoke. They look at themselves and think, “Gosh, I thought it was cool and now look at me.” Then we look at the vast majority of these smokers; teenagers. Around 3,900 teens begin smoking every day, showing us that 80% of all smokers start before they are 18 years old. This shows that there are a lot of kids trying to fit in, only to get a terrible bargain: awful breath, smelly clothes, and a waste of over 1,440 dollars a year on one pack a day, not to mention the fees for the needed dental and medical care. Obviously, these short term consequences do not seem pleasant.
The items listed above are short term effects rather than long term effects. Though, after smoking for a long period of time, which most people can’t avoid, there is an enormous risk for the lung disease emphysema, bronchitis, heart failure, cancer, and most especially, death. These consequences are bound to occur if a person lets smoking control their life. Once the smoker gets those few doses of nicotine, it becomes an unbearable and nearly impossible task to quit, making the many diseases all the more likely. One cigarette is most likely not going to kill a person, but it’s that first cigarette that leads them to the second, third, fourth and so on. It’s the addicting effect, which will in fact, over time, kill you.
Smoking is often an addiction tied together with alcohol. Like alcohol and any other drug, smoking can cause a dependence on its user. Physical dependence causes a person not to be able to function properly without cigarettes, resulting in withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit. The other type of dependence is psychological, which causes users to think they need cigarettes. Both of these dependences cause the user to be addicted which leads to the previously stated diseases as a result.
George Barron, a cancer victim and survivor, has a devastating story. He started to smoke at age 23 due to peer pressure and trying to be cool and fit in. Although he was not a heavy smoker, smoking only a few cigarettes a day, he was diagnosed with throat cancer when he was 44. After a radiation treatment, the cancer was gone, but it came back only a few months later. His larynx and thyroid gland ended up being removed, leaving an open stoma between his collar bones. His objective today is to share with young students his mistake and to help them understand how rough the consequences of choosing to smoke are.
When we look at the mystery of smoking after learning of its terrible effects, it just seems so ridiculous. Why on earth would anyone want all that? It doesn’t even make a person look more attractive, unless one finds yellow teeth and fingernails, bad breath, and oral cancer as attractive! The reason people, and especially teens, are drawn towards smoking is not because of its untold effects, but because of the tricks of the tobacco industry. They try to make it look cool in commercials and advertisements. Teens may see actors they like in films smoking and they might think that’s cool. Often the industry takes survey’s asking kids about what they like and think is cool. They then take these answers and add them into their advertisements in order to draw kids to things they like while intertwining it with smoking. Plus, who better to target for smoking than uneducated kids who don’t know what harm it will do to them if the start to smoke?
One reason smoking is especially risky among teens is because the teenage brain is still developing and smoking can cause permanent damage. The same is also a problem with the growth of the lungs. These youth don’t know that smoking is going to shut down their physical ability, cause irreparable harm to their growth and development, and create life long consequences that are difficult to escape.
This terrible habit of smoking is widespread, not only among adults, but among curious teens who don’t understand what they are getting themselves into. This addiction along with all its health effects can be so closely related to committing suicide. Once it is started, it is difficult to stop, and it will most likely cause early death and awful health effects.
Teenage Smoking
People all over the world still have yet to understand just why they started to smoke. They look at themselves and think, “Gosh, I thought it was cool and now look at me.” Then we look at the vast majority of these smokers; teenagers. Around 3,900 teens begin smoking every day, showing us that 80% of all smokers start before they are 18 years old. This shows that there are a lot of kids trying to fit in, only to get a terrible bargain: awful breath, smelly clothes, and a waste of over 1,440 dollars a year on one pack a day, not to mention the fees for the needed dental and medical care. Obviously, these short term consequences do not seem pleasant.
The items listed above are short term effects rather than long term effects. Though, after smoking for a long period of time, which most people can’t avoid, there is an enormous risk for the lung disease emphysema, bronchitis, heart failure, cancer, and most especially, death. These consequences are bound to occur if a person lets smoking control their life. Once the smoker gets those few doses of nicotine, it becomes an unbearable and nearly impossible task to quit, making the many diseases all the more likely. One cigarette is most likely not going to kill a person, but it’s that first cigarette that leads them to the second, third, fourth and so on. It’s the addicting effect, which will in fact, over time, kill you.
Smoking is often an addiction tied together with alcohol. Like alcohol and any other drug, smoking can cause a dependence on its user. Physical dependence causes a person not to be able to function properly without cigarettes, resulting in withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit. The other type of dependence is psychological, which causes users to think they need cigarettes. Both of these dependences cause the user to be addicted which leads to the previously stated diseases as a result.
George Barron, a cancer victim and survivor, has a devastating story. He started to smoke at age 23 due to peer pressure and trying to be cool and fit in. Although he was not a heavy smoker, smoking only a few cigarettes a day, he was diagnosed with throat cancer when he was 44. After a radiation treatment, the cancer was gone, but it came back only a few months later. His larynx and thyroid gland ended up being removed, leaving an open stoma between his collar bones. His objective today is to share with young students his mistake and to help them understand how rough the consequences of choosing to smoke are.
When we look at the mystery of smoking after learning of its terrible effects, it just seems so ridiculous. Why on earth would anyone want all that? It doesn’t even make a person look more attractive, unless one finds yellow teeth and fingernails, bad breath, and oral cancer as attractive! The reason people, and especially teens, are drawn towards smoking is not because of its untold effects, but because of the tricks of the tobacco industry. They try to make it look cool in commercials and advertisements. Teens may see actors they like in films smoking and they might think that’s cool. Often the industry takes survey’s asking kids about what they like and think is cool. They then take these answers and add them into their advertisements in order to draw kids to things they like while intertwining it with smoking. Plus, who better to target for smoking than uneducated kids who don’t know what harm it will do to them if the start to smoke?
One reason smoking is especially risky among teens is because the teenage brain is still developing and smoking can cause permanent damage. The same is also a problem with the growth of the lungs. These youth don’t know that smoking is going to shut down their physical ability, cause irreparable harm to their growth and development, and create life long consequences that are difficult to escape.
This terrible habit of smoking is widespread, not only among adults, but among curious teens who don’t understand what they are getting themselves into. This addiction along with all its health effects can be so closely related to committing suicide. Once it is started, it is difficult to stop, and it will most likely cause early death and awful health effects.
3 comments:
Wow, good job Collin. What an informative and persuasive paper (I hope when your teacher had all the kids read it, that it convinced some of them to never smoke). I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for posting!
You should all know that Collin's teacher gave him a perfect score in all categories on this paper. She asked if she could keep it. Then she made copies for all of her classes, omitting Collins name. She used it in class saying that an 8th grade student in their school had written it. The students were told to take highlighters and highlight every topic sentence. They discussed the form. Collin said he raised his hand and said isn't such and such the topic sentence, and she said no, this is. HA HA HA. Pretty impressive isn't it? Last week he wrote a declaration of independence from homework. He got 18 kids to sign it! He got full points on that as well. I was persuaded by it, and so I signed it too!
I want to read that too! Please, Collin?
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