The Smoking Menace

The courts are busy handing negligible punishments to young offenders giving them a strong message that they can get away with anything they do. It is at this stage that the young should get the message loud and clear that if they go against the law, then the law is there to stop them.

It is the same like making a habit. The current law enforcement situation does not give this message clearly and hence a mental attitude develops amongst the offenders that they can get away with anything.

This is the reason that teenagers go around mocking the law abiding through underage smoking, drinking, getting pregnant at their convenience and committing the more serious crimes against each other. For us they are still children and we wish to treat them like one. But we need to understand that amongst their class, the children get an example from each other’s behaviour.

In their minds they bear that if they can have a chocolate bar then why shouldn’t I have one? If they can have underage sex and smoke, then why can’t I? If law is soft with them, then it should be with us as well. So what is the harm in giving everything a try? So they start experimenting in the name of enjoyment and fun.

Under the circumstances, it is important to be careful that the authorities don’t appear to be encouraging people to take up smoking in order to reward them for giving it up.

No second opinion on this that we should keep on introducing methods to prevent and encourage people doing harm to them, but it is more important to determine the root cause of such developments in behaviours and attitudes.

Smoking habits are not developing because of availability, but because of the lax attitude of the ones responsible. This includes the parents, the departments and the society. Media is a double edged sword, first it earns by advertising for the smoking companies and then by advertising for the NHS. Isn’t that the best strategy!