Tobacco and Our Youth

Youth and Tobacco use has been an ongoing phenomenon for quite some time now. Tobacco companies have somehow found a way to make their products more and more appealing to the young eye and that includes but not limited to the shapes and colors of these products. According the Center of Disease Control, if smoking rates continue to go on this way, nearly 6 million of Americans younger than the age of 18 will lose their life sooner. In total that would be nearly 1 out of every 13 young Americans under the age of 18 who are alive today.

            There are many factors that identify with why tobacco product use is so prevalent in young people. Social and physical environments can easily pressure a young person to want to follow trends they see either around friends/family and/or on social media. Biological and genetic factors can cause sensitivity to tobacco for a young person as well as mental health. If a young person is looking for ways to cope from stress, depression, and anxiety, they sometimes turn to tobacco use. These are just a few of many reasons why a young person may use tobacco.

            Some of these reasons also include lack of education for these young persons and their parents. There are so many dangers in smoking that isn’t just potential addiction. The brain of a child is growing until age 25. Young people can sometimes also suffer from respiratory illnesses as well as smoking being a sort of gateway to other drugs. From JUUL to Vuse, there are lots of newer tobacco products that many parents may not even recognize as tobacco products. These products contain nicotine. In our community, there needs to be more focus on educating parents and their children from a much younger age so that children know what to look out for and how these products are now being shed in a more appealing light.

Sadia Ahmed

Community Health Worker

Wellshare International

sahmed@wellshareinternational.org

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