Wednesday, May 29, 2002
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Wednesday, May 29, 2002 |
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No lighter side to teen smoking By BILLY MURPHY
I have a lame riddle: What do Sherman's burning of Atlanta and a Peachtree City teen have in common? They both leave a trail of smoke and ashes. A person in Fayette County (or, any county for that matter) would have to be blind not to see that teen smoking is epidemic. And, if a person is not blind, maybe he or she just has smoke in their eyes. I once called the police station and asked a few simple questions about smoking. I got some simple answers. I asked, "Is it illegal to sell cigarettes to minors?" The answer was, "Yes." I then asked, "It is illegal for an adult to give, buy for, or sell cigarettes to a minor?" Again the answer was, "Yes." I then asked another simple question, "Then if I see a minor smoking, something illegal has taken place?" The answer was like, "Well, uh...." Yet, you can practically see hundreds of teens and even preteens smoking in a typical week without anyone asking a single question. Are we a community that just doesn't care? As educated and affluent as Fayette County seems to be, we should be leading the state in deterring smoking. Yet, like in soccer or academics, we excel. I am not saying it is just the job of the police. I am not saying it is just the job of the school system. I am not saying it is just the job of parents. But together, it IS the job of every responsible adult involved with youth. Some would say the problem is education. Yet, we already have the smartest students in the state. Some would say the problem is a feeling of hopelessness among teens. Yet, even teens know they have a brighter future than any generation before. The problem is as apparent as leather on the Marlboro Man: it's simply freedom. Teens smoke because they can. You can research every societal influence, every psychological urge, and every rebellious spirit. The reasons for wanting to smoke are multitude. The reason kids that kids DO smoke is one because they can. Simply, no one cares enough to say "No!" Our national government continually tries to do what we as a community should already be doing, stopping minors from smoking. Why have we as a county, state and country stopped caring about our teens? We wouldn't let a toddler run in the street. We wouldn't let a child drink poison. We let our middle and high schoolers smoke all day long. Some would argue we are just delaying the inevitable by restricting youth from smoking. Yet, we know toddlers eventually grow older to take care in crossing the smart. We know children grow older to take care to avoid drinking poison. Do our teens know everything they need to know to the point we don't need to protect them? Even from themselves? It's time to ask the question, "What's the matter here?" and create a way out for our teens by using the word "No!"
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