Kentuckys Youth and Teen Smoking - 1020 Words

At a local Kentucky convenience store you can buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes for about $4.50. For the same price as a cheap lunch a teenager can continue a nicotine addiction for another day. Smokers in Massachusetts, however, can expect to pay over ten dollars for a single pack of smokes. At ten dollars per pack an average smoker in Massachusetts can expect to pay over $3,000 a year. This is one of many reasons why Massachusettss YRBS rating (a scale to rate the amount of smokers in high schools) is a low 16.0, giving Massachusetts the 10th lowest score out of 43 states rated. Kentucky, however, came in last on the YRBS rankings with a rate of 26.0 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). This awful rank of last is proof†¦show more content†¦If warning kids of the future health risks of smoking is a successful way to keep them from smoking then why does the US Department of Health and Human Services report that 34% of Kentucky high school students smoke? It isn t. In fact, ads that focus on smoking health risks are proven to stimulate the rebellious and curious nature of youth (ScienceDaily 1). According to ScienceDaily, Anti-Smoking campaigns aimed towards kids are most effective when convincing youth that their friends are listening to the ads (1) . While outdated and ineffective ads focus on telling individuals to avoid tobacco or die horribly, Hye-Jin Paek, assistant professor at UGA College of Journalism and Mass Communication, says new advertisements across the world focus on changing the social norms surrounded by smoking. Instead of an ad saying â€Å"every cigarette you smoke takes nine minutes off your life,† these billboards could read â€Å"over 66% of Kentuckys high school students are smoke free.† This is a great example of a shifting focus from health risks associated with tobacco to how a young adults peers feel about tobacco. A social standard is set for high school students when ads clearly state that the vast majority of teens arent smoking. Tobacco companies constantly use sexually suggestive images to sell their products effectively. Why not use sex as a selling point to stop young adults from smoking? Sex has