Smoking is not as cool as it used to be, say some Blenheim teens – a sentiment that echoes a decade-long survey released yesterday by anti-smoking group Ash.
The survey has been undertaken every year since 1999. In that year 31.6 per cent of year 10 students (aged 14-15) said they had never tried a cigarette compared to the most recent result, where 64 per cent had never taken a puff.
Lisa Crouch, a 19-year-old mother, began smoking five years ago when her older sister started.
She believed the attitude towards smoking among young people had changed significantly over time.
"[The perception of smoking] has changed a lot. I don't think it's cool at all any more and I'm thinking about quitting. I really regret starting."
She said in the past she would have rather gone without food than cigarettes and would now give up for health reasons, as opposed to the increased costs of smoking.
According to the survey, which received just under 27,000 responses from schools around the country, 5.6 per cent of 14 and 15-year-olds reported smoking on a daily basis, compared to 15.6 per cent last year.
Harry Jackson, 15, made a conscious decision not to smoke because he thought he would become addicted easily.
"I don't look down on [smoking]", he said. "I just don't do it myself."
Nineteen-year-old Nathan Gull said the change in the perception of smoking over the past several years was positive.
He made a conscious decision not to start smoking.
"It's unhealthy. I don't want to waste my life – what do I get out of it?"
He said the culture had changed which may have been because of less advertising of smoking.
The survey showed that last year, 4.9 per cent of boys reported smoking on a daily basis, compared with 6.3 per cent of girls.
Harry said it came down to what his friends would think of him if he started smoking.
"It's about how your peers look at you.
"I think if I started smoking, I'd lose all my friends."
The survey also showed students were more likely to smoke regularly if at least one of their parents was a smoker.
Do you agree that fewer teenagers are smoking and that it is "less cool" than 10 years ago? Leave your comments on this story or text your comments to 0272618081.
Please include at least your first name and age with your comment.
I was one of the daily smokers in 1999 (I was 14 at the time and remembering starting in order to "be cool"). By the time I was 15, a lot of people in my year-group at school were daily smokers (about 30%). It was definitely an exclusive and awesomely rebellious club to be part of. It also helped reinforce the "us versus them" against teachers - we had secret signals to alert other smokers when teachers were nearby, and all that sort of carry-on. It makes me a little embarrassed to remember it all today!
I quit in June 2004, and I'm so happy that I continue to be smoke-free. Quitting was one of the hardest thing I've ever done and I definitely wouldn't have survived without nicotine patches and gum.
I have one who smokes and one who does not. I didn't start smoking because I have seen the struggles of my Mum trying to give up over the years. The smell is gross and it looks unatractive.
Few friends I know of said that they will be quit smoking now simply because of cigarettes are getting more expensive, this could also be another factor why more people are quitting nowadays, I guess this is kinda fair enough, and I do support these friends.
I personally never smoked, nor I see the needs. I do not need to smoke in order to be part of some "cool" groups, I would rather archiving the things I love in my life to proof my own coolness to myself. In the end, getting a lung cancer or other related health problems later in life would not looking too cool among the friends when think about it doesn't.
So yeah, not doubt, I believe this is a very good start and a big thumb up to these teens.
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