Fiction! The tobacco companies do everything they can to make you believe that most of your friends smoke and that you should, too. The fact is that the majority of students do not smoke.
Nevertheless, the number of teens who smoke is very high. Students in grade 12 were significantly more likely (38.2%) to report current cigarette use than students in grade 9 (31.2%).1
Suggested Interactive Activities:
- Have girls identify 10 teens/adults they know who smoke, 10 who don’t, and 10 who’ve quit smoking.
- Have girls interview several teens who’ve made the decision not to smoke (or to smoke) and write short articles for school newspapers.
- Ask girls to make two lists: one of reasons not to smoke and one of reasons to smoke.
1 Centers for Disease Control. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, US, 1995. MMWR. 1995;45(SS-4). |
