Solve College Students Smoking Problem - Essay Example

?Solve College Smoking Problem smoking issue is indeed one of the most pressing concerns of the time. This has remained as a matterof much interest for the parents and teachers alike. There are a number of reasons why smoking has come out in the open as a menace yet the solution to the problem is a matter that remains more essential than anything else. This is because smoking poses a fatal future for the students as they grow up and take on more responsibility. It is always important to make them get rid of this problem once and for all when they are young or best to even make them stay away from smoking in the first place. This paper understands how smoking has become a huge problem and how its solutions can be found within the relevant settings of schools, colleges and homes. To solve this anomaly that has come about for the students, one must find out why they are inclined to smoke to begin with. Perhaps it is peer pressure where their friends and colleagues are involved in these bad habits. Or may be it is because they are watching their favorite celebrities, sports stars and the like on television and various other media avenues that they are getting hooked on to this menace. It could also be possible that this is because of the combination of such nuances that they have ended up smoking and found an escape within their day to day lives. There could be a number of reasons but the most important premise is to offer a solution which is in their best interest alone. If the students stay away from smoking, the parents and teachers can heave a sigh of relief automatically. It must be understood here that the students need to be provided solutions to get rid of or to stay away from smoking. They would not be able to devise these solutions on their own and hence bring sanity within their lives. Someone older than them would have to take the initiative and find ways and means through which the students will end smoking for their own betterment or to even stay away from joining the peer pressure which becomes more and more with the passing times. The need is to understand which strategy works best where and what can be done to employ the same. It is significant to find out who the actual proponents and supporters are of students at allowing them to smoke at their own free will. This could include the different dimensions of the society with which the students get in touch. These might comprise of the media avenues and platforms which they are always discussing and find a leaf out of this book in more ways than one. This could be represented in the form of several ideologies which emanate from the teenager and student life which has an impact on the students in a number of different mannerisms. Some believe that smoking is just a bad habit that shall go away with time and must not be given significance by the parents and teachers. What they seem to forget is that smoking is not a habit; it is an addiction and that too a very horrible one. It brings tyranny for the sake of the people and makes them realize where they are headed. Their young ones would have to face the music within their later years, and thus it is always advisable for everyone to stay away from smoking, mostly within the school domains (Waldron 2005). The school’s own reputation is at stake when the students are seen smoking both inside and outside the campuses. This rapport discussion deems significance because schools are known to be the places where corrective measures are employed and where students are taught about the positive aspects of the world. Now it would be a bad omen if these students themselves are given the liberty to smoke at their own free will. Something somewhere is inherently wrong and a reactive strategy might just bring about a sense of sanity that the school authorities and the parents would look up to as far as their children are concerned. There is a need to put fines and suspensions within schools and colleges when students smoke. It will be tantamount to a form of punishment which will make amends within the understanding of the smoking ideology that is deemed as a harmful one for the sake of the society at large. If these fines are made stringent, there is no doubt that the students will exercise restraint within their school settings as far as smoking is concerned. They will either put an end to it or find some other hideout to carry out these bad habits. What is most pivotal within the discussion is that the students must put an end to the debate of smoking and stop thinking about it so that their long term betterment is ensured (Hutchinson 2007). Also the role of media in projecting the hazards of smoking through advertising campaigns and marketing ideologies is the need of the hour. Media is responsible for enacting ways and means through which these students manifest themselves on a day to day level. The faces that the students see on television, in print and on billboards on the road depict how they shall be in the future. Much is documented on their part if they are fed with images that speak negatively of their role models. Similarly, a great deal of optimism can be had if these celebrities and the like are portraying something worthwhile for the sake of the children. If a heart-throb vocalist is seen smoking a brand of cigarette and girls surround him endlessly on a television advertisement, the students are bound to comprehend that smoking is one such nuance which shall make them an instant hit within their social circles. They will then like to try it for their own selves and make it a part of their normal, domestic lives. If their parents are not openly dictating the negative role of the smoking domains, they might just go ahead and start smoking in front of them in the future. Encouraging positive domains within the students and telling them how the corrective measures can be made no matter how problematic the scenarios have turned out is much required. This will support the students more and more and tell them how to get rid of this menace once and for all. Since the students are only young, adopting a positive demeanor when speaking to them will pay more dividends rather than scolding them. This will set the precedent for achieving much success especially since the parents and teachers want the children to let go off of smoking (Wold 2006). The need is to make them realize where they are going wrong and how corrective measures can be taken for the long term success of everyone – the students, their parents, their teachers and the rest of family and friends. However, there are limits to the behaviors that can be meted out on to these students. If they do not listen, making use of the stick would be deemed as an acceptable undertaking. It should always be kept in mind that the students must not be scolded in front of a large audience as it hurts their sentiments and makes them do things which they are told not to due to the negative effect that they have taken on. Being positive and showcasing a sense of optimism will produce better results than being negative from the outset. Another perspective that exists as a refutation to this topic surrounds how alternatives can be understood and analyzed. If the students are given a better alternative, there is a possibility that they might switch over but then again the probability under such a scenario is too low. It is important that any alternative is not offered to them in the form of electronic cigarettes and the like. What is required meanwhile is an understanding that such alternatives can best be described by a complete avoidance of the smoking premise more than switching over to another tool or notion. If the students believe that any other alternative would work best whenever they try to take their minds off smoking domains, then it is best to discuss the same with their parents and teachers (Vries 2007). This is because these elders know it best when it comes to advices and suggestions. One shall believe that there is nothing worse off than smoking so an alternative under such realms would be hard to find. Perhaps thinking about something else or taking the mind off of things that bring one’s own self towards the habit of smoking can be seen as the most significant alternatives. Taking the easy way out under such circumstances is regarded as something that shall pave the way for achieving more than one could have expected. It will eventually take care of all the elements that the students think about and resolve within their own lives. In the end, it would be fair to state here that smoking is one passion that the students can let go if they make a firm commitment towards not only their elders but also their own selves. As a call to action, it would be important to suggest here that parents and elders share the blame if their children go haywire. They should always be answerable for all the tasks and actions when the students are young and unable to make-do with the nuances that surround their lives. The role of the media and the advertisers is to make sure that they keep the smoking domains as subdued as possible. The role of the educators and school authorities should be to pull up their socks to achieve sound results for the sake of the society at large and to make up for the gross transgressions on the part of the students in the past. The future must not see what the past and the present have already brought about to the fore. There needs to be a sense of optimism which has to be manifested and projected across the board for a number of reasons, all said and done. Works Cited Hutchinson, Rebecca. Smoke Signals: Adolescent Smoking and School Continuation. Advances in Austrian Economics 10, 2007 Vries, Hein de. Adolescents' view on smoking, quitting and health education. Health Education 107(2), 2007 Waldron, Linda. The Messy Nature of Discipline and Zero Tolerance Policies: Negotiating Safe School Environments among Inconsistencies, Structural Constraints and the Complex Lives of Youth. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth 11, 2005 Wold, Bente. Family and school influences on adolescent smoking behavior. Health Education 106(6), 2006 Read More