Teenage Smoking

Persuasive Essay # 116945

Advertising > Tobacco
Child, Youth Issues > Teen, Adult Issues
English > Persuasive Writing

Teenage Smoking

A persuasive paper that tobacco advertising and lack of parental involvement is killing our children.

2,368 words () | 13 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper argues that tobacco advertisements are directly responsible for youth taking up the habit of smoking since teenagers pay more attention to advertising than adults. The paper then discusses how parenting practices also make a difference in a teenager's life and the choices he makes. The paper contends that in order to prevent teens from smoking at all, advertising campaigns from the tobacco companies need to stop targeting their age group, and parents need to become more involved in their child's life so they can prevent him from smoking before the habit begins.

From the Paper:

"Tobacco advertisements are aimed at picking up new clients every single day. They do this by aiming their ads towards a younger crowd so that they can get lifelong customers to replace those who have died or have quit using their product. Further, parental noninvolvement is one of the most common things among teenagers who smoke. Parents who are too busy to pay attention to their teenager's activities often have teenagers that are into unhealthy behaviors, including smoking. Bad choices made by teenagers with regard to smoking can be blamed on both tobacco advertising and lack of parental involvement."

Sample of Sources Used:

Cook, Greg and Cook, Joan Littlefield. The World of Children. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. 2007.
Fox, Maggie. "Manufacturers' anti-smoking ads ineffective-study." Reuters Online. 31 Oct 2006. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N31226390.htm
High, Hugh. "Tobacco ads do not cause an increase in smoking." Smoking (Current Controversies). Ojeda, Auriana, ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. 2002.
"Lung Cancer Fact Sheet." American Lung Association. Oct. 2007. http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=2060245&contentid={BD3F3387-3AA3-4660-9EF7-3F6BD8B6D251}%notoc=1
Mott, Joshua A., Paul A. Crow, Jean Richardson, and Brian Flay. "After-School Supervision and Adolescent Cigarette Smoking: Contributions of the Setting and Intensity of After-School Self Care." Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 23 Apr 1998.