Cigarette packaging in Canada
Canadian teenagers smoke 1.6 billion cigarettes every year.
What advice would you give to youth who choose to light up? Give reasons to support your response.
A good submission is clearly written, logically organized (including an introduction and a conclusion), and supported withplausible reasoning.
We’ll post the best submissions!
Forum Feedback
Victoria G
Ms. Francis
My advice to young children who have chosen to start smoking:
You have chosen to do what you are doing, and I respect that. I just
hope you know that this isn't something like a little fad.Smoking is very hard to stop
and is really dangerous. Please take this into consideration I'm not asking you to stop smoking
I just want you to know the concequences that might result later in your life. Many people have died from becoming addicted, so this has to be worth a lot to you because one day it might take your life. Many Canadian kids have experienced poverty due to the need to smoke, some kids get cancer and die after making the same choice you have made. If you want to stop please tell someone and I'm sure you will have the help you need. It's good to get to have help at a young age instead of when you are older and it's too late. If you don't want to quit please just think about how you want to spend the rest of your life because smoking can take over you.
Julia H
Mrs. Francis
To young adults who choose to smoke, I say that it is your desicion. I don't believe in smoking but I have realized that it is your choice and part of your rights. I am just warning you that smoking is a dangerous thing and does NOT affect your reputation in a good way, so don't think that it will make you more popular or cooler, because all it does is makes you unhealthy. I just want you to know what it does to your body and how it can also affect the people around you. Second-hand smoke is also a huge problem lately. It is terrible that the people who are exposed to the smoke, not by choice, have to suffer as well as you, when it wasn't even up to them. I just hope you know how bad it is to your friends, family and yourself. I also want you to know that it is very hard to stop. If you aren't willing to smoke for the rest of your life, or then I suggest DON'T START, because the help in quitting is costly and the cost of cigarettes nowadays is huge. I believe that if you are going to smoke, you must give up your health, and money. Why not just save up for a pool? Or big TV? Or new car? Why should you waste your money on something like cigarettes?
Cory W
Ms. Francis
I would tell them that smoking is very harmful to your body, also to the people around you. I don't think it is fair to put others in danger for something you chose to do. Smoking is very unattractive, it smells very bad and it's very strong. It also makes your teeth yellow as well as your nails. Your overall appearance changes when you smoke, as well as your attitude. It could prevent you from doing sports and other activities also. Why would you risk you life like that, especially at a very young age for something you really don't need. Notice how when people smoke, others try to stay clear of you because it is bad for their lungs and it is very strong. Personally, I am against smoking, and I don't like being around people that do. I think it is something people really need to think about.
Shams A.
Mrs.Troung
If anyone thinks smoking is cool just think about this, in about 20 years you will be lying on a hospital bed with lung cancer, throat cancer or some other kind of deadly disease. And those will probably be the last days of your life. Is that Cool? Is it cool to die from some horrible disease? Is it cool to look at yourself in the miror and see yellow skin and rotting teeth? Is it cool to have horrible breath all the time? Is it cool to die young, to hurt the ones around you? It is a decision you have to make but, remember once you start it is very complicated to quit.Do you really think it's cool to ruin your life?
Billy P
Mrs.Simpson
My dad started smoking about 5 years ago and it seems like he`s aged alot since then. He just turned 34 in December, but I think he could pass for a 45 year old. Plus his teeth don`t look too healthy either. I often ask him why he started to smoke but I never get an answer. I really would like him to stop now while he`s still alive! I just want kids to know that if their parents just start to smoke please please tell them just 1 cigarette leads to another and another and so on, and tell your mom or dad they still have a son/daughter to take care of...
Jordan L
Ms Rosen
Smoking makes you lose a lot of money, harm your own body, and harm other people around you. It is one of the main causes of deaths in Canada. If this is all so terrible, why do people still do it? Even younger kids are starting to start smoking. Canadian teenagers smoke about 1.6 billion cigarattes every year. How much would all that cost? How much will that harm your body?
Why are kids doing this? This is the question on Health Canada's mind right now. This is a warning to all kids that are smoking.
For students, I think the most important reason is peer pressure. Some students or kids think they will be "cool" just because they smoke or their relatives smoke. It is quite easy for another kid to ask another kid for a smoke. If one says no, everyone will pick on him for not joining in. It only takes one kid to get a cigarette from a relative or older friend to get him cooked. You'll try it once and say you'll never do it again. Then soon enough, you do it. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. One kid smokes and he thinks its great. He tries to spread his "happiness" and gives another kid a cigarette. That's how the cigarettes get passed out in middle schools and high schools.
It is also a complete waste of money. Why buy stuff that will take lots of your money, harm your body, and harm other people you love around you? Instead you could buy new clothes, food or even a present for your girlfriend, if you can get one. It is highly rare to get a girlfriend when you are a smoker, most women or girls do not like to date someone who smokes.Anyways, smoking can ruin your whole life. It is such a bad habit that there are hotlines and websites to help you stop smoking. If you get into the black hole we call "smoking", you still have a chance to escape. If you call the hotlines and go on the websites, you will be able to quit and leave a much fruitful and healthy life. You will also save thousands of dollars that you could have spent of cigarettes.
Would you like to live a single, unhealthy life and have no money to support yourself and others or live a full, happy life and have leisures with all the money you have saved? After getting addicted some kids do not think there is a way out. There is now. Call the hotline and visit the website they give you and you can stop smoking.
Jackie T
Mrs. K
Ok, most the kids I know that smoke, smoke because everyone else does! But look around, look at the results that has happened to many adults! When you stick that cigarette in your mouth it's like you're accepting an early death. I think that us, kids have to ignore the pressure and show others that you don't have to smoke to be cool. I think one less kid smoking equals one more kid that can stand up against the peer pressure and then eventually smoking could stop for good!
But of course things arent that simple because it might mean to not fit in with your friends, it might mean you'll be the only one in your family who doesn't light up cigarettes. But remember that actually, you would be not alone because there's also many people who dont smoke! Maybe it's time for a better environment for yourself? But all in all, cigarettes might soothe and be there for you right now. But when you're sick and dying there is no way they will make you feel better!
Brooke C
Mr, Good
My advise to youths who light up is that it's not too late. Quite while you still can. You're young, you have a whole life ahead of you! You are better than that to throw it away. If you are smart you will stop now. Everyone has faith in YOU! Believe in yourslef, we believe in you and what you can do. So be the person you know you want to be and make a difference, be strong and help yourself be happy, healthy and feel good about yourslef again! You can do it!
Lindsay H
Mr. Good
If I were able to give advice to youth who choose to light up, I would first of all tell them that they are just hurting themselves and even though they want to seem cool now, it is really just hurting their future. I would also inform them on places they can go to get help for their addiction. I would tell them why they should quit and then where they can get help so that they can be more successful at kicking their habit. Hopefully this would help them decide that what they are doing is detrimental to their health and that they should quit. I think that it is really important to inform youth on the dangers of smoking and how it can effect their future lives.
Clifford J
Ms.B
After doing some research on the health risks of smoking, it scares me to learn of the deadly impact that smoking can have on a person. Teenagers are vulnerable to fads, fashion and “what others are doing”. Some kids think they have to do what the other are doing to “fit in”. Smoking is huge among teenagers. I would advice any teenager not to even think about smoking.
The health risks are greater than the pleasure. I see smoking as short term pleasure, long term pain. One may “feel good” after a smoke, which of course is short term, but what happens after the smoke. Cigarettes smoke contain 4, 000 chemicals, including ammonium and arsenic. It also contains hydrogen cyanide the same chemical used as a weapon in World War II. Ammonium and arsenic are used to make explosives and burns the skin, lungs, kidneys and liver. Hydrogen cyanide is a lethal agent that is also used to make gas bombs and kill rodents.
The chemicals in the cigarette smoke are lethal why should any human being expose themselves to it. These chemicals were used in the war to kill and not to keep alive. There are a few questions that teenagers should ask before they light up. Am I willing to live with consequences of the deadly effects that smoking has on people?, what effects will it have on my longevity?, what effects will it have on my family?. If they can answer that they are concerned about those issues then they should not smoke.
Find friends who respect you for who you are and not what you do. Good friends should never force you to do what you do not want to do. Our health and family are important than just a few minutes of pleasure. Before anyone smokes they should consider if they are ready to get ill and maybe die or do they want to live a long, healthy life. Statistics show that 37,000 Canadian die per year of tobacco related illness. This is more than all the murders, car accidents and suicides. Ask yourself do I want to a statistic in death or in life?.