As I walk through campus, I notice the fall leaves changing. The colors are absolutely beautiful, such rich reds and oranges. It even smells beautiful, until I walk through a puff of cigarette smoke.
I can count on one hand, possibly one finger, the times I have walked through campus without seeing someone smoking a cigarette. And that’s really sad. Really really sad.
It is honestly so infuriating that the young adults of today still smoke cigarettes. Not only are we more educated about the dangers of smoking, but the media today portrays smoking for what it is, absolutely disgusting. The statistics are mind-boggling. According to ABC News, one-third of college students today smoke cigarettes. One. Third. That is ridiculous.
I give sympathy to our 60-and-above-year-old grandparents that still smoke today. No one knew how harmful cigarettes were when they first became popular, and by the time they were educated enough to sit back and say, “Wow, I could die from this,” it was too late. Their bodies were already used to the normal nicotine intake. Needless to say, there are those who have kicked the habit, and to them I say congratulations.
To those teenagers, college students, and young adults, I say you are indeed an idiot. Have you been raised under a rock? Have you ever been to school? The education system alone should have been enough to never make you want to smoke. I fondly remember sitting through health and science classes, looking in our huge textbooks at healthy lungs and lungs that have been exposed to nicotine smoke. They were black and ugly.
And I remember thinking in my head that I would never pick up a cigarette, ever. I would think that would be enough to scare any person. And then there’s the commercials. Let’s talk about the one where the woman has to hold her hand on what should be her voice box, but instead is a tracheostomy tube from tracheal erosion due to smoke, to be able to talk. How about the one where the guy lost half of his teeth due to gum disease before he was 40? Not to mention the countless number of times you cringed as you watched a girl peel her cheek off, or the guy who pulls out his own tooth, all for a pack of cigarettes.
Do people honestly think it’s “cool?" I didn’t know getting lung cancer, and pre-mature heart disease were considered cool now-a-days. I hope that one day we will be able to say that smoking is a thing of the past, like ass-crack showing jeans (yes, they were a thing). Hopefully, our generation will buck up and make a change, because I would hate to see how many wrinkles you all have when you’re 30.
