Laughing at this idea is encouraged - your lungs will get some fresh air :)
It’s
very clear from the studies on smoking practices that most of the people start
smoking while they are living their school or college life. The easy availability of
tobacco products in and near the campus increase the chances of students trying
to smoke and being habituated subsequently.
A
person's friends help in starting the bad habit of smoking, sometimes unknowingly. On the other side,
no one can be a better help than a dedicated group of friends who are committed
to help their smoker friends in the process of quitting the habit of smoking. The
social support along with the alternatives to tobacco products is very much needed in
effectively countering the menace of smoking in the youth.
The biggest fear for the early smokers is to get caught by their parents, partners or close friends who care for their health and well being. However it’s important that the caring person come to know about their smoking problem before they get addicted to it and it’s too late for them to quit.
There is need for anti-smoking campaign targeted on parents as well, so that they can talk to their kids about the harms of smoking and prepare them for the unwanted habits which they might be getting in their school/colleges otherwise.
There
is a need for Intoxication Free Campus Campaigns across the world. To begin
with we can start the anti-smoking awareness campaign on the social networking
websites such as Facebook and Twitter, where most of the educated youth
socialize. The
online forums for helping the addicted people in quitting are also there, but
they are not as effective as the regular as the personal attention by the close
friends. The online pages/forums and groups can help people in smoking cessation by providing and sharing useful information, however the smokers keep avoiding these as long as they are not self driven and determined to quit. The social help can only support them, but the determination to quit has to come from the within.
Helping
a friend or partner in quitting can be as much difficult as quitting your own,
hence it's very important for the friends to be emotionally strong. To quit
smoking is one of the hardest things to do. The
importance of not nagging and making their life stress free is very important.
For example a friend can join its friend to a quit class, so that the friend
can understand the process of the quit and be more supportive.
When
a friend forces something on the smokers, it makes them back away from
the quit and makes it much more stressful process. One thing we need to
remember is that nobody is going to quit anything unless they want to. Forcing
them to quit and bothering them is very different from being supportive.
Rewarding
the smokers in quitting process is important. Reminding them that you are proud of them
and acknowledging that it's a very hard process and it takes a very strong
person to go through that process and you are always going to be with them
The
institutes of higher learning and the public schools in cities, where the
administration is relatively better than in schools and colleges in small
towns, can kick start a campaigning for intoxication free campuses. The strict implementation of government
directives in the educational institutions is needed to stop smokers from influencing other students who have not yet started smoking.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/IntoxicationFreeCampus
[ This post is based on a report submitted in Consumer Behavior Course at IIM Kozhikode - PGP/14/123 ]
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