Health
Ask yourself this
Smoking
What you've said...
Coming from a family where my dad smokes I know what affects it can have on yourself and know in confidence that I wouldn't be swayed towards smoking. Only a few of my mates smoke and all regret it, they start out socially smoking and end up chaining it. Before you know it the teasing's on them since they no longer want to smoke but can't stop the habit. Advice? Convince them to stop smoking and in no way start yourself. If they really are friends then your relationship shouldn't be hurt by attempts to stop them.
me and my mates all started smoking around the same time, nothing to do with peer pressure, its just a teenage thing. NEVER let anyone make you do something you dont want to do. My friends still smoke but I quit. They dont care if I smoke or not and we still hang out as a group - its like normal. After a while things will seem normal and your friends wont hassle you about it, if they do then make some new friends.
Adviser feedback...
Peer pressure can make it hard to say no to things you don't want to do. But it is ok to be different to the rest of the group, especially when it's about something as important as this. To help Luke stick to his guns, he should have a list of responses to say to his friends when they are trying to coax him into smoking. When friends say it's cool to smoke, he could point out that some of the coolest and fittest guys around - like David Beckham - don't smoke. Luke could also tell his friends that girls much prefer kissing a non smoker, who doesn't taste and smell like an old ashtray! He could also point out that the cost of smoking 20 ciggies a day for 5 years is around £8000 - think what cool things that amount of money could buy you! Luke is quite right to be concerned for his health - smoking is a highly addictive habit and is the cause of 120,000 deaths every year in the UK. For friendly and practical advice on giving up smoking call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0 169.
Luke's story
Luke is fourteen and hangs out with a group of mates that he has known for years, but recently he is starting to feel a bit left out of the group and awkward around them.
Most of the group has started smoking and Luke feels under a lot of pressure to start as well. Smoking isn't something he likes, he hates the smell on his skin and clothes and prefers to spend his money on other things. He is also worried about the effects on his health as his granddad recently died of lung cancer.
Luke still gets on really well with his mates and wants to stay part of the gang but he feels that to stay included he must start smoking. His mates tease him saying that he isn't cool because he doesn't smoke and he really doesn't know what to say back to them. He doesn't want to talk to his parents about it as he thinks they will think his friends are a bad influence and stop him seeing them or possibly speak to their parents.
