Smoking is injurious to the health of smokers.It is a process of consuming tobacco and it depends on the method what kind of drug a smoker consumes,it can be smoking or chewing etc.Besides this, unfortunately many teenagers are smokers and they increase their tendency day by day.Is there any pressure,social or societal cause behind it ? In my booklet “Drug-A Risk For Teens”,I had explained the pressure and the causes behind the substance abuse.Peer pressure in the same condition works as a push factor to those normal teenagers, youngsters those do not consume tobacco or any drug in their life.But when they become a part of smokers group,at the same time they do not prevent themselves from smoking due to negative peer pressure as they feel inferior in a group of smokers and so that they also want to become a part of the same group. According to rule of law the legal age of smoking is 18 years but unfortunately if we glance at the current situation of our society, teenagers of the age 14,15 and 16 are consuming tobacco and e-cigarettes.Recent studies indicate a troubling trend in cigarette consumption among youth in India. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) of 2019 and World health organisation (WHO) revealed that approximately 8.4% of school-going children aged 13 to 15 are involved in some form of tobacco use. Alarmingly, the survey also showed that 11.4% of children start smoking cigarettes even before turning seven years old. Besides this there is a social cause and main reason why teenagers get addicted to smoking and the main mark spots when any parent sends their teenage child to buy cigarettes. Meanwhile, if we are standing at a provisional store or at general store and one child will come to purchase any smoking material for his addictive parent or relative where cigarettes are an easier and basic substance of addiction and easily available in the market but the mistake made by the parents is to send their children (especially teenager) to store to purchase cigars for them.This is the first step of the ladder which a young child gradually towards his addictive nature and at a stage becomes a moriesh smoker. Some common reasons why young people start smoking and are drawn to cigarettes include:
1. Parents send their children to purchase smoking or other addictive substances: Now a days, more than the middle aged population the teenagers are purchasing cigarettes, using e-cigarettes and this besides the whole worse their is negligence of parents to send their children to purchase the things which are not of any use.So at that time either they do not consume any drug or smokes but with a slow pace they want to consume these substances and simultaneously got addicted. Whereas, if we purchase books at a slow pace we can be a good reader. Similarly, when a youngster become a daily purchaser of Tobacco and cigars.Then they he also grew up in slow pace as a notorious smoker.
“Parents should watch their children’s, especially teenagers as various hormonal changes takes place. Moreover, some parents provide pocket money to children but they do not keep any interest in asking them about the same amount but Parents should be acknowledged for the transactions. “Purchases of addictive substances especially by teenagers or any person below adulthood should be discontinued”.
2.Friendship with smokers or bad company: One of the effective reason of addiction is bad or inaccurate friend circle because after home place a student generally teenagers having school their place where they spend most of the time with friends.If friends are professional in their studies, brilliant and oppose the social evils then there are no such chances for them to consume cigarettes or become prey of any evil and good friend circle with suitable atmosphere is important for the future of children.
3.Parental supervision: It is crucial for a child’s development, as it significantly influences their success. When parents provide pocket money, they should closely monitor the child’s expenditures. By questioning and verifying how the money is spent, parents instil a sense of accountability in their children regarding their finances. This oversight can deter the misuse of pocket money, reducing the likelihood of children becoming consumers of tobacco and drugs. As we discussed above,the reasons behind the consumption of cigarettes by teenagers and youngsters but one important cause of the tender smoking addiction is tuition.As when the teenagers go out with aim of achieving knowledge at coaching centres (tuition classes) and their they got in bad atmosphere or having mobile phones can increase their curiosity to smoke.So,tuitions are limited to boundaries of education not for the purpose of smoking or bad company and each and every aspirant should grasp the whole bad atmosphere present in our surrounding. Therefore, parents should watch their children’s, especially teenagers as various hormonal changes takes place. Moreover, some parents provide pocket money to children but they do not keep any interest in asking them about the same amount but Parents should be acknowledged for the transactions. “Purchases of addictive substances especially by teenagers or any person below adulthood should be discontinued”.
(The author a freelancer. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
Ayaan Saroori
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