Introduction
Smoking among preteens has become a major issue of discussion over the past years. According to a report released by the American Cancer Society, most preteens begin smoking around the time they are in their fifth grade. Despite the good news that the number of preteen smokers has been significantly reducing since the 1990s, there is still much to be done as the effects of smoking are increasingly building an unhealthy population that in the future may not reach the average age expectation (Mettlin & Smart, 2007). This possible reduction in life expectancy poses a threat to future generations since the consequences of cigarette smoking are dire and have long-lasting effects. It is, therefore, imperative to come up with solutions that will help in curbing this menace, usher in a generation that is healthy, and free from the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to assess the health risks of smoking cigarettes among preteens, mostly the fifth graders, recommend a viable plan for intervention, and seek ways of implementing the proposed intervention.
Health Risks of Cigarette Smoking among Preteens
The risk associated with tobacco use among the preteens not only affects their health but also has an impact on their levels of social interaction. Most children begin smoking under the influence of their friends whom they see doing the same. Wrong company and lack of parental guidance have largely contributed to this phenomenon. In other instances, the children observe their parents smoking and pick up the habit from them (Bush et al., 2009). Therefore, the blame should not only focus on social influence but also on the failures of parents to offer positive guidance to their children.
Children who smoke regularly are highly vulnerable to certain chronic diseases, and health problems; such health problems and diseases may include coughing, wheezing, breath shortness, regular headaches, hearing loss, improper lung function, and depreciated physical fitness. Moreover, the overall health of the preteen would look miserable due to poor management of body and health. Smokers are also vulnerable to macular degeneration, which is often associated with vision impairment. This aspect means they can easily turn blind at a tender age, and this will affect their overall livelihood.
The tar in cigarettes has also been found to bring blockage into the blood vessels. When the blood vessels are blocked, the patient may suffer from stroke and high blood pressure. These are among the top killer diseases in the current generation and continuous exposure to the causing agent will make it even more prominent in the coming generations.
Long-term cigarette smoking may also result in the development of lung problems. Children who smoke expose their lungs to toxic substances, which in the end lead to reduced lungs performance. With this reduction, the children will develop breathing difficulties and further pave the way for chronic illnesses like asthma. In fact, it has been estimated that healthy children can contact asthma with an exposure of at least 10 cigars a day. At this rate, many children who constantly expose themselves to this may be in great danger of contracting these health problems.
As this group grows older, there is a high propensity for their developing gum diseases as well as tooth loss due to the effects of nicotine. Additionally, nicotine is highly addictive, and commencing its use at a tender age may result in addiction that may lead to irresponsible living among the affected individuals.
Increased use of nicotine significantly reduces the body’s immunity to certain health hazards. The affected child may, therefore, develop acute respiratory illnesses, unending colds, and increased flow of phlegm within their system. The young children would, therefore, be susceptible to a number of infections, which may reduce their life expectancy rates to very few years.
Increased phlegm in the system of the affected preteens may result in respiratory illnesses. The phlegm comes due to blockage of the system hence creating an environment through which viral infections can easily develop and affect the body. With little defense, the body may be not properly positioned to fight against fungal infections (Mettlin & Smart, 2007). Invasion by these infections may make the body much weaker, and cause preteens to succumb to situations where the body cannot stand it any longer.
Considering the above, it is quite evident that smoking among young children has adverse effects and in the long run, may reduce their life expectancy. These adverse effects necessitate the recommendation of measures that can be applied to fight and reduce this menace to ensure that the young upcoming generation comprises healthy and strong people with high life expectancies. In this way, the future can be secured for such young kids indulging in smoking cigarettes.
Possible Interventions
Smoking habits are mainly picked up during the adolescence stage. Most of these are due to peer pressure while others just pick up smoking out of curiosity. There are a number of intervention programs that can be implemented to help young children, especially fifth graders overcome the problem of smoking. Funding will be sought from the community healthcare to help manage and implement the recommendations. Further, the intervention of various health professionals such as nurses, doctors, and community health workers will be sought to help accomplish the recommended interventions.
Introduction of health education and activities in schools. One of the most common interventions is the introduction of education regarding the dangers of cigarettes and tobacco use among young children. Such education should be introduced in the school curriculum, and should mainly focus on educating the youths on the importance of tobacco-free lives. There are also activities that can be introduced in schools to create awareness of the effects of tobacco use. Such activities may include skits, “Live It Up” campaigns, and sports activities aimed at ending tobacco use among young children. These activities are suitable for children at the preschool level, elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities.
Providing empowerment to teachers, parents, and counselors. This empowerment encompasses passing the advisory role to the teachers, parents, and counselors to help in endorsing cigarette free lifestyle among preteen children. These people, therefore, need regular training to enable them to acquire skills on the most current smoking issues among the youths.
Introduction of a preteen initiative program. This intervention involves the creation of a preteen program or movement that is aimed at eliminating the smoking habit among the youths. Such a program should be given a suggestive name such as “Smoker free generation,” and its major agenda should be to focus on the means through which the preteens can stop indulging in smoking. The group should organize training sessions to enlighten the members on the importance of living a tobacco-free life. As well, there are certain activities that this group may involve in to help attract the preteens and give them the relevant information.
Other activities that the group may involve in include smoking cessation which, should be done in front of the preteen audience. This program will help in the provision of vivid illustrations to the youths on how to end the bad habit of smoking cigarettes. The same group should have an online support team to attend to the needs and inquiries made by the kids who want to quit smoking.
Reinforcing good habits through parental role-modeling. Parental smoking often leads to children picking up the cigarette left by their parents and learning how to smoke. This scenario depicts how most children acquire their smoking habits. Continuous repetition of this trend leads to the formation of a habit. Eventually, the kid will start joining groups that engage in cigarette smoking. However, if parents choose to be positive role models for their children by not smoking and advising them appropriately on the dangers of smoking, the menace will be reduced significantly.
Prohibition of smoking among the underage. According to federal laws, children below 18 years old are not supposed to smoke. Therefore, teachers as well as the entire public should be sensitized to these policies and encouraged to take legal measures in such cases. Retailers should also be banned from selling cigarettes or other tobacco products to underage children (Mettlin & Smart, 2007). Tough legal action against the retailers who sell cigarettes to underage children as well as the youngsters found smoking can also reduce the incidence of cigarette smoking among young children.
Implementation
The above interventions call for various implementation models due to their diverse nature. Resources from the community health center, community members, as well as cooperation from schools, and other institutions available within the locality will be required to actively reinforce these recommendations. This joint approach will help in strategically carrying out the plan that has been laid down to help in curbing this menace of preteen smoking.
The objectives of this implementation program will be to create awareness of the risks associated with cigarette smoking, promote good healthy living habits among the preteens and train them on how to overcome the temptations to engage in such activities. To effectively pass on the learning objectives, Bloom’s Taxonomy, which categorizes the objectives into three groups, that is, cognitive, psychomotor, and affective models will be adopted. Categorizing them into these models will allow easy execution.
Cognitive objectives. The cognitive objectives will involve helping the preteens to develop knowledge and a critical concept of the effects of preteen smoking. Training sessions will be introduced in schools and with the help of teachers and other health professionals from the community, the message will be communicated to students. At the end of it all, the children should be able to understand that preteen smoking has adverse effects on their lives, and most of these effects are long-term.
In this implementation plan, the cases will be presented to the students and then they will be allowed to critically analyze and form opinions regarding the outcomes. This approach may include giving them a narration about a smoking incident and asking them to make decisions that match the best intervention. Below are the objectives as well as the implementation process that will be followed.
Affective objectives. The affective domain intends to help the learners develop emotional skills on how something affects people. Ideally, the effective objective intends to create awareness and knowledge on emotions and feelings towards the effects of smoking at a tender age.
Under this perspective, the learners are given information and expected to respond in a certain manner. The nature of learning dictates that it should make the learners respond to some stimulus. They should also be trained to attach value to certain phenomena and destruction of such would make them respond emotionally. For instance, telling them how their life expectancies can be reduced significantly and the manner in which smoking can contribute to this. At the end of it all, the learner should develop certain beliefs and values that they hold dearly, and infringement of these values should mean destruction to them.
The psychomotor objectives. The psychomotor skills are intended to build or change certain behaviors. In this case, the psychomotor skills can target to change the behaviors of smoking children already and instill a sense of discipline among them. The children will be taught how to predict the outcome of certain issues and events. In this manner, they will be able to know activities that will bring positive or negative results. Allowing the children to know the effects of using cigarettes and training them on the guided response will provide them with a better way out.
The implementation process will follow the above outline, and the processes will be followed as per Bloom’s taxonomy process. Resources will include medical practitioners from the nearest community health center as well as the members of the community and teachers. Other resources may include instruments that will help in spreading information and education of the students.
Implications
Implementation of the above policies will help in curbing the increasing habit of smoking among preteens. The future of the community lies in the healthy generation that is established through these preteen children. Implementation of this research will, therefore, aid in establishing a generation of adolescents who know the value of healthy living, and most importantly the benefits of non-smoking.
Implementation of these will significantly control the prevalence of chronic diseases in the community. Some of these diseases include cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, and asthma among others. These diseases are among the top killers and cigarette smoking is among their major causes (Bush et al., 2009). Eliminating the habit of smoking among the preteens will ensure a healthy and responsible generation. Moreover, the life expectancy will be increased. Cigarette smoking is counted among the main causes of premature deaths among youths. Therefore, breeding a young generation that is free of this habit will be accompanied by massive benefits.
References
Bush, T., Curry, S. J., Hollis, J., Grothaus, L., Ludman, E., & Mcafee, T. (2009). Preteen attitudes about smoking and parental factors associated with favorable attitudes. American Journal of Health Promotion, 19(6), 410-417.
Mettlin, C., & Smart, C. R. (2007). Effects of smoking cigarettes among teens and adolescents. A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 44(4), 248-255.