Saturday, August 11, 2012

4. Teens and Tobacco Use: Why Declines in Youth Have Stalled



     Written by Alexandra Sifferlin, this article discusses the topic of smoking among teenagers.  The number of teen smokers has been a rollercoaster.  The number of teen smokers has dropped, 34.4% to 23.2%, but is still high.  It has been at a standstill for a while and that is not good.  Nearly ninety percent of people who smoke started before they were 18 years old and 1 out of 5 high school students use some form of tobacco.  This article also has many resources and data that date back to the year 2000.  Though there are still 4 out of 5 teens that do not smoke, which is encouraging, smoking is still a problem.

     This article does a good job supporting its main idea.  It does not give personal estimates and ideas.  Facts are given from data taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).  Also, by using words from Dr. Tim McAfee regarding the subject, Sifferlin takes the time to show how Dr. McAfee said that the resulting numbers were “disturbing”.  This shows that she really does support Dr. McAfee’s side of this issue and how it is dangerous.  This helps with the backbone of the article, the author took time to find real evidence.

No comments:

Post a Comment