270 Unit 4 Understanding and Avoiding Hazardous Substances
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Exploring a New Identity
Some teenagers start to smoke as a way of trying out a new identity.
Teens may associate smoking with maturity, sophistication, or glamour.
They may believe that, by smoking, they will become all of these things.
Young people may also begin smoking because they want to be viewed as
rebellious and tough, perhaps in part because buying cigarettes is illegal
for most high school students.
Most teenagers, however, do not view smokers as popular or cool. Sur-
veys have found that teenagers see smokers as unhealthy, foolish, and poor
performers in the classroom.
Social Factors
Some people begin using tobacco products because they want to fi t in
with or imitate the behavior of parents and peers. These social factors have
a strong impact on tobacco use (Figure 9.9).
Parents
Parents’ attitudes and behaviors about smoking have a strong in-
fluence on whether or not teenagers smoke. Teenagers are much less
likely to start smoking if their parents set clear expectations, discuss-
ing and following through on consequences for smoking. Teens who
describe their parents as being strongly against smoking are less likely
to smoke than teens who see their parents as open-minded toward
smoking.
Smoking can lead to social
rejection because of other
dangerous behaviors that
are associated with smoking.
What behaviors do you
associate with smoking?
Figure 9.9