If young people were the ones shown getting ill from smokingcigarettes, maybe more would quit. Instead, anti-smokingcommercials and stop smoking campaigns show mainly older adults, asfewer focus on younger adults.
One of every three college students smokes, and of those youngadults, two of three attempt to quit smoking but fail, said LeslieA. Robinson, University of Memphis professor of psychology.
"We sort of assumed (young people) did not want to quitsmoking," she said, adding that the number of college students whosmoke has been increasing over the past years, leading her to findthe best ways to help college students quit.
To do so, Robinson has embarked on a three-year AdolescentCessation and Evaluation Study at The U of M Center for CommunityHealth, through a grant of almost $1 million from the NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse.
In the past, researchers tried to use adult programs to helpyoung adults quit smoking. However, because these programs are notas effective with a younger audience, Robinson realized researchers"have not asked teens what would be the best way to quit."
One thing is for sure, programs tailored for older adults rarelywork on the Internet generation because younger people don't haveanyone to look up to and no heroes close to their age who havekicked the habit. Anti-smoking ads portray adults who quit smokingas heroes. But "when kids quit smoking, they are not heroes," saidRobinson.
These images of older adults are not in sync with youngerpeople's perspectives on life and do not show the differentobstacles younger adults face when trying to quit, like peerpressure, said junior business management major AdrianaBallentine.
Peer pressure is a major obstacle that hinders teens and collegestudents from quitting. Some, in order to appear as one of thecrowd, may smoke occasionally. But even one or two cigarettes amonth can build a habit that goes unnoticed, said Robinson.
It also appears that young people get hooked physiologically totobacco very quickly, Robinson said.
So during the three-year study that will work with the MemphisCity School system, researchers will interview students and talkabout topics ranging from how much they smoke to their attempts toquit.
The feedback and data will be used to hammer out a programbetter tailored for young adults, Robinson said.
"There is a greater push to get people to quit smoking thenbefore," said senior biology major Khara Carroll. "But there shouldbe a greater push to get young people to quit."
