Teens & SmokingSummer 2011Survey

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ent s We would like to extend our sincere

appreciation and gratitude to:

• Kevin Peña• Darnell Farrell• Christina Smoot• Brandon Long

Summer youth teens who participated in this investigation.

Mary’s Center’s Smoking Cessation Program, with the invaluable assistance of 4 Summer Youth Employment Teens conducted a survey during the month of July among 51 participants at our Georgia Ave Clinic’s waiting room. The pool of participants were 30 years old and younger. The goal of this project is to help in the development of a youth-focused and youth-specific messaging to prevent and support smoking cessation among adolescents.

Male49%Female

51%

Gender of Participants

The number of women and men interviewed was similar Male 25Female 26TOTAL 51

Yes 67%

No33%

Are you a smoker?

Two out of every three young people surveyed reported being a smoker

Yes 34No 17TOTAL 51

Family31%

Friends46%

Classmates17%

Others6%

Who influenced you to be a smoker?

A third of respondents are influenced to smoke (negative role modeling) by family based on our survey results. Prospective studies have shown protective effects on smoking of posi-tive parenting practices (Simons-Morton and Haynie 2003)Family 15Friends 22Classmates 8Others 3

8-12 yrs29%

13-16 yrs51%

17 yrs or older20%

At what age did you or your friend smoke your first cigarette?

A third of those surveyed begun to smoke between 8 to 12 years old. The youngest participants we have had come forth in our program was 15 years old. We need to develop prevention activities before they start smoking.

8-12 yrs 1513-16 yrs 2617 yrs or older 10TOTAL 51

Being part of a group, such as a clique, classroom, club, etc .provides benefits of acceptance and friendship. Substance use is one factor about which friends and groups of adolescents tend to come to agreement, leading to group homogeneity (Kandel 1978).Habit 17Stress 18Peer pressure 12Other 3

Almost half of those surveyed reported “ To be healthy” as motivation to quit smoking. We need to explore further what it means “to be healthy” further since 67% of those surveyed were smokers. To be healthy 24Odor 8Social pressure 14Family 3

Lung Cancer 30Allergic diseases 11Second hand 6Death 4

Developed by:Jose Majano, Smoking Cessation Program

Educator

Alis Marachelian, Health Promotion Director