Students Smoking Behavior

The rates of campus students smoking have fluctuated over a period of the last twenty years. Most of the lifelong smokers’ start their smoking habit before they reach the gae of 24 years. This therefore meansthose campus years are a very crucial time when it comes to any study of cigarette smoking.Cigar rete smoking in campus has now become a very serious issue in public health issue. This has led to an increase in campus wide bans in smoking alongside other preventive programs in place to reduce students smoking rates. There are several economic, social and environmental factors that have been associated with the increase of smoking around campus students. Some of these factors are low socioeconomic status, students who have parents, close friends and relatives who smoke the acceptance as well as positive views of peers who smoke the exposure and high availability of tobacco products and so on.

There are several assumptions that can be made when t comes to this smoking behavior among campus students.one of the assumption is that about a third of students in campus smoke. Another assumption is campus students’ view smoking as a social habit. Another assumption is women use smoking as a tool for loosing weight.There are also some perceived gender disparities when it comes to smoking.

Despite the existence of campaigns that encourage young people not to smoke third of the students in campus are actually using tobacco related products. From a research that was conducted by Harvard School of public health who carried a survey on 1400 students from 119 colleges showed that a third of the students accepted that they had used tobaccoproducts. This includes cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Between 1993 and 1997 the number of U.S students who smoke increased from 22%-28%.researchers have laid the blame on cigarette industry marketing push for the increase in the number of students who smoke in campus (Schorr,2009).

Studies show that there exist some social differences when it comes to the behavior of smoking of female and male campus students. The campus students themselves have some perceptions when it comes to smoking by their opposite sex. From the perspective of both female and male students there were some negative feelings towards the behavior of women smoking which they both consider as being “unlady like”. However, there is a general positive perspective when it comes to smoking among men as they are taken to be cool and tough. Though there exist negative perceptions when it comes to smoking by female students the behavior of smoking in parties is considered to be a female behavior and not a male behavior.

Research shows that women use smoking as a tool for loosing and managing weight. Afact about nicotine found in cigarettes is that it is a very successful appetite suppressant. For this reason cigarette is being used as a tool for dieting. Young women in campus are driven by pressure to be thin and having the need to be approved socially into smoking. Ladies who are quite conscious about their bodies have shown a high risk of continuing with the behavior of smoking. Ladies in campus who stop using nicotine as a suppressant for appetite tend to gain weight at the initial stages of stopping and therefore those who are particular about their body weight will find a reason to continue smoking.

Students in campus view smoking as a way they can socialize and take breaks in between their study. Smoking also has a correlation with alcohol smoking among campus students. This is quite significant due to the fact that alcohol is quite prevalent among campus students. Campus students perceive smoking as an aid to their social interactions especially when it comes to finding their potential mates meaning those of the opposite sex. This is a concept that tobacco companies use when they are advertising their products. They produce ads that depict sexual images of women and men. Campus students view the habit of smoking after taking alcohol as a practice that is more acceptable as opposed to one smoking when they are sober. Studies have also shown that campus students who smoke when they are inebriated feel as though their peers judge them less.

Smoking bands have become quite a common affair in university campuses. A question that comes up is if these bans really work. The smoking ban in campus led to a significant reduction in the number of students that smoke as well as changing theirattitudes. Though it the specific element of smoking free air policy that led to a positive change in the rates of students smoking has been pinpointed, having this type of policy in place has not had such a big influence the smoking related norms that students have created. Study by IU tobacco control published a report showing that the rates of students smoking dropped after the campus wide smoking bans were put in place and that those who continued smoking reduced their levels of cigarette consumption (Coster, 2013).

References

Indiana University (2011), September 14). Campus smoking ban reduced students’ smoking, changed attitudes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 11,2013 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914122700.htmSchorr,M.(2009).A Third of college students smoke. Retrieved September 11,2013 fromhttp://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=118065&page=1Coster,D.(2013). Campus smokings ban a drag for some students. Retrieved September 11,2013 fromhttp://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/9122346/Campus-smoking-ban-a-drag-for-some-students