Prevalence of smoking and drinking Essay

Adolescence, from Latin word adolescere which means â€Å"to grow up† is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood. It is most closely associated with teenage years. Adolescence is further divided into three more stages, the early (12-14 years old), middle (15-17 years old) and late adolescence (18-20/21 years old). In each stage of human development, there are physical, emotional and physiological changes that happen. This is based from the concept that humans have developmental tasks that should be accomplish per stage. In the adolescence stage, adolescents are in critical stage because teenagers are exposed to a larger environment (Macmillan Dictionary for Students, 1981). Background of the study Nowadays, teenagers that are exposed to different environment are now engaged to smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages for some reasons. The strong association between binge drinking and smoking among adolescents may be attributable, in part, to the fact that both adolescent alcohol use and tobacco use share a number of sociocultural risk factors. Researchers have found that these factors—including family and peer influences, demographics, advertising, economics, and alcohol and tobacco availability—are associated with adolescents’ initial and continued tobacco and alcohol use (Bobo, J. and Corinne Husten, 2000). According to the U. S. Surgeon General Report (1994), approximately 80% of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18. Every day, nearly 3,000 young people under the age of 18 become regular smokers and an estimated 2. 1 million people began smoking on a daily basis in 1997. More than half of these new daily smokers were younger than age 18. This translates to more than 3,000 new youth smokers per day. The rate of youth initiation of daily smoking increased somewhat from 55. 5 to 74. 9 per 1,000 potential new users between 1991 and 1996, but remained level in 1997 (the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse). It is said that young people who come from a lowincome family and have fewer than two adults living in their household are especially at risk for becoming smokers and those with poorer grades and lower self-images are most likely to begin. using tobacco. Over the past decade, there has been virtually no decline in smoking rates among all teens. Among black adolescents, however, the prevalence of smoking has declined dramatically. Most young people who smoke are addicted to nicotine and were reported that they want to quit but are unable to do so (Statistics on Teens, 1994). In 2002, Komro and Toomey said that alcohol use by underage drinkers is a persistent public health problem in the United States, and alcohol is the most commonly used drug among adolescents. Accordingly, numerous approaches have been developed and studied that aim to prevent underage drinking. Alcohol use initiation rates for children rise quickly from age 10 up to about age 13, when they reach more than 50 percent. Subsequently, initiation rates begin to slow again (Kosterman, R. et al. , 2000). Moreover, alcohol is the most commonly used drug among adolescents. According to Epstein, J. et al. , alcohol use continues to be an important public health problem. Recent national survey data indicate that 41% of current 8th graders, 62% of 10th graders, 73% of 12th graders and 85% of college students have used alcohol. Even more troubling is that 11% of 8th graders, 22% of 10th graders, 25% of 12th graders and 40% of college students reported heavy episodic drinking. Domingo and Marquez found large gender differences in the risk-taking behaviors among Filipino adolescents and youths. Men are much more likely than women to drink, smoke, and use drugs. The large gender difference in risk-taking behavior among adolescents and youths is rather common in Asian countries but not in the U. S. In our case, The Philippines has no national law regulating smoking and sale of tobacco products. There is no minimum age requirement for the purchase of cigarettes and no law regulating the advertising and promotion of cigarettes. There is no law that requires the printing of warning labels on cigarette packages. Instead, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) is supposed to protect and promote the â€Å"balanced and integrated growth† of the tobacco industry. Despite the results of a survey which say that 72 per cent of the polled adult population was supportive of having a legislation banning smoking advertisements. There are more restrictions on drinking than smoking especially of the minors. Those who are less than 18 years old are 2|Page prohibited from purchasing or drinking alcoholic drinks. However, the enforcement of this regulation is weak (Choe, M. and Corazon Raymundo, 2001). Objectives This study aimed to determine the prevalence of smoking and drinking of alcoholic beverages among senior high school students specifically: 1. to compare the prevalence of smoking and drinking of alcoholic beverages between senior students of public and private high school; 2. to contrast the occurrence of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among senior high school males and females; 3. to identify and rank the reasons why senior high school students smoke and drink alcoholic beverages; 4. to determine the awareness status of senior high school students in terms of the effects of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages on their physiological health; and 5.to identify the effect of smoking and drinking of alcoholic beverages on the socialization of senior high school students. Review of Related Literature There are different factors affecting different behaviors of adolescents. One social theory studied by Travis Hirschi (1969) is a more general explanation of deviance than deterrence theory, but which is, in turn, primarily restricted to informal social control which comes from individuals being bonded to groups and institutions. 1236 grade 9-13 students from 62 randomly selected classrooms in 3 Canadian schools in the Borough of East York, 1 of Metropolitan Toronto’s 6 municipalities, were surveyed in December 1994 about their alcohol drinking beliefs and behaviors, and related lifestyle behaviors. Findings are based upon the analysis of data from 628 boys and 608 girls, of whom 799 were born in Canada. 24% of the students reported never having tasted alcohol, 22% had tasted alcohol but were not current drinkers, 39% were current moderate drinkers, 11% drank at 3|Page least 5 drinks per occasion at least once per month, and 5% did not answer. The most often stated reasons for not drinking were family upbringing and they believed adverse effects of alcohol consumption upon health, while the most often stated reasons for drinking were because it is an enjoyable experience and to get into a party mood. Respondents’ drinking patterns were significantly related to gender, ethnicity, grade, and the reported drinking habits of parents and friends. Older male adolescents who describe themselves as Canadian are more likely to drink heavily than are students who are younger or female, or self-identify as Asian or European. Current heavy drinkers are at greater risk than other students of engaging in other high-risk behaviors such as drinking and driving, riding with an intoxicated automobile driver, and smoking every day (Feldman et al. , 1999). In one of the surveys in US, half of respondents knew of a place near their school where kids could go to drink and get high during the school day, according to the yearly back-to-school survey, which polled 1,003 12-to-17-years old. And more than one-third said that students had ample opportunity during the school day to drug, drink and smoke without getting caught. Drug use in both public and private schools is on the rise, with 54 percent of private high school students reporting that drugs are available in their schools versus 24 percent in 2002 and 61 percent of students at public schools saying their schools are â€Å"drug infected,† compared with 46 percent in 2002. The researchers looked closely at the role of social media in teen substance use and found 75 percent of surveyed 12 to 17-year-olds said seeing pictures of teens partying with alcohol or marijuana on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace encourages them to party similarly (Gardner, 2012). Forty-five percent of teens – almost 11 million – said they have seen such pictures online and 47 percent of those teens said that it seems like pictured teens are having a good time. Teens who have seen these pictures were found to be four times more likely to have used marijuana, more than three times likelier to have used alcohol, and almost three times more likely to have used tobacco (CBSnews, 2012). 4|Page In the awareness of teenagers on the health risks of smoking and drinking, it was found in one of the studies that teenagers think that smoking is more dangerous than smoking. Teen smoking has declined in all three grades included in the study—grades 8, 10, and 12. Still, almost 19 percent of 12th graders reported current (past-month) cigarette use. This decline shows that more teens realize the harm smoking does to your body and are making the decision not to start. Also, teens’ attitudes about smoking have changed. They increasingly prefer to date nonsmokers and believe smoking to be a dirty habit. Likewise, among nearly all grades, trends over the past 5 years showed significant decreases in alcohol use, including first-time use, occasional use, daily use, and binge drinking. As with smoking, this decline may be the result of more teens understanding the risk of drinking alcohol and disapproving of this behavior (The Sara Bellum Blog, 2012). How teenagers feel about themselves plays a significant role in whether they choose to drink or use other drugs, according to a new report released today by SADD and Liberty Mutual Group. The Teens Today 2003 study also reveals that a teen’s â€Å"Sense of Self,† can influence sexual behavior, reaction to peer pressure, and, importantly, be affected by a teen’s relationships with parents (Henderson and Greenberg, 2004). Research has shown that the media over estimates smoking rates and often associates smoking with favorable attributes or situations. Given that the media plays a large role in influencing youth culture, portrayal of smoking in the media is of concern. In order to explore young people’s perceptions of smoking imagery in the media, 16 focus groups were conducted with 117 school students. Participants were asked to rate smoking images selected from audiovisual and print media, and to discuss their perceptions of these images. The results showed that young people perceived smoking in these media selections to be normal and acceptable. They identified with the stress relieving and social aspects of smoking, despite being well aware of the harmful health effects. Its acceptability as part of a ‘cool’ image was also noted. Positive images of smoking in the media have the potential to down play the serious health consequences of smoking by portraying it in a way that young people interpret as a 5|Page normal part of everyday life. They may also encourage a more neutral or tolerant attitude towards smoking among young people and therefore act to counteract other health promotion efforts to reduce teenage smoking (Watson et al., 2003). 6|Page METHODOLOGY The Participants In the study of determining the prevalence of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among senior students from private and public high schools, a total of forty senior high school students, twenty students comprising of ten male and ten female students from public high school and twenty students comprising of ten male and ten female students from private high school were randomly asked to answer the questionnaires provided by the group. The public school was a public national high school located in Los Banos, Laguna. On the other hand, the private school is a registered private non-sectarian high school in Los Banos, Laguna as well. The respondents have a mean age of 16 years old, ranging from 15-18, having a mode of 16. Measures The most commonly used and most frequently self devised measuring instrument, the questionnaire was used simply to obtain information directly from subject as to make a standardized list of factual information or elicited application that was generalized to a larger population. A one-shot survey questionnaire was used as the research instrument in the study of determining the prevalence of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among senior students from private and public high schools. It is a usual study design where a single group of individuals is selected for observation over a single, limited time period, usually because they have experienced some factor taken as important in shaping some outcome (Kelly, 2012). And according to Jupp (2012), it is akin to one-off crosssectional design. As shown in Appendix A, a letter to the respondent identifying our topic and informing our objectives were told. Moreover, see Appendix B for the complete copy of the questionnaire used in the study. 7|Page The questionnaire was divided into three parts: Personal information, Physiological status and Lifestyle, and Social Aspect. The Personal information section was used for determining the age, sex, type of school, religion, and parents’ civil status. While in the physiological status and lifestyle section, this would tell us how often the students from private and public schools smoke and drink alcoholic beverages. Also, to find out if the students were aware of the effects that these specific vices can contribute to their health condition. Lastly, the way of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages of the students in terms of having a companion or not while smoking and/or drinking and the perceptions of parents and themselves were determined in the Social Aspect section. The Setting The researchers had entrusted the set of questionnaires to one of the respondents from public and one from private high schools. They were the ones who distributed the set questionnaires to their fellow senior high school classmates. The respondents were a given a whole day time to answer the survey questionnaire. The two entrusted students collected all the completely answered survey questionnaires at the end of the day. Data Analysis In the process of obtaining, the questionnaires were made, distributed and collected again. For a more simple analysis of the data collated, tallying was made in a tabulated manner. The data obtained were computed to get the percentage by dividing the number of score with the sum total of scores and then multiplying it by 100% using the formula: P = f / N x 100% Where: P – Percentage N – Total number of respondents F – Frequency 8|Page And lastly, for an easier glance to the data collected, it will have a graphical presentation in a form of bar graph, pie chart and other usual graphical ways to present the data. In order to identify the reasons why they smoke and what they think their parents perceive them a list of possible choices were mentioned in the questionnaire. These reasons were ranked 1 to 3 by the respondents who are smoking and/or drinking alcoholic beverages. In order to evaluate the rankings, an improvised rubric is formulated. Every number (rank) has an equivalent vote just to differentiate and identify the leading reasons. Rank 1 – 3 points Rank 2 – 2 points Rank 3 – 1 point The highest vote will be assigned as the top reason while the others will be ranked according to the accumulated votes. The tabulated rank can be found on the results and discussion. Other data, including the occurrence, prevalence, frequency, reasons, and perceptions of male and female senior students smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among private and public high schools were tabulated and graphed in order to see the comparison. While in determining the awareness of the students if smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages had an effect on their health condition, and if they were able to gain friends were in a form of poll. 9|Page RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The prevalence of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among senior students of public and private high school were determined and observed. As seen in Table 1, the total number of students smoking is 3, with 2 females and 1 male in public school. While 4 students, with 3 males and 1 female in private school. Among the 40 students, 7 of them were smoking. Table 1. Number of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Public Private Subtotal Male 1 3 4 Female 2 1 3 3 4 7 TOTAL As seen in Table 2, the total number of students drinking alcoholic beverages in public school is 6, with 4 males and 2 females. While there are 9 students drinking alcoholic beverages in private school. Among the 40 students, 15 of them were drinking alcoholic beverages. Table 2. Number of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools Public Private Subtotal Male 4 6 10 Female 2 3. 5 6 9 15 TOTAL 10 | P a g e The occurrence of male and female students smoking in public and private high school students is shown in Fig. 1. It was observed that there’s a higher number of smoking students in male category in private school. While, there is a higher number of smoking students in female category in public school. Moreover, students from private schools are more exposed to smoking. This might be because of the accessibility and affordability. Most private school students are in middle to high class statuses. Smoking 3. 5 3 2. 5 2 Male 1. 5 Female 1 0. 5. 0 Private Public Fig. 1. Occurrence of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Conversely, The occurrence of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in public and private high school students are shown in Fig. 2.. It was observed that there’s a higher number of students drinking alcoholic beverages in male category in private school. While, there is a higher number of students drinking alcoholic beverages in male category in public school. Moreover, students from private schools are more exposed to drinking alcoholic beverages. This might be because of the accessibility and affordability. Most private school students are in middle to high class statuses. 11 | P a g e Drinking 7 6 5 4 Male 3 Female 2 1 0 Private Public Fig. 2. Occurrence of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools Table 3. Frequency of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Daily 1-2 times a week 3-5 times a week Occasionally Public Male | Female | | 2 1 Male || | Female | Subtotal 0 0 Private Subtotal 0 3 1 0 TOTAL 0 5 2 0 12 | P a g e 0%. Smoking 0% 29% Daily 1-2x a week 3-5x a week Occasionally 71% Fig. 3. Frequency of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Table 4. Frequency of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools Daily 1-2 times a week 3-5 times a week Occasionally Public Male ||| Female | | 4 1 1 Male |||| | | Female | | | Subtotal 0 | Private Subtotal 0 5 2 2 TOTAL 0 9 3 3 13 | P a g e Figure 4. Frequency of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools 0% Drinking 20%. Daily 1-2x a week 3-5x a week 20% 60% Occasionally Students involved in smoking in private and public high schools had their own reasons why they did the vice. As seen in Table 5, the most voted reason in public high school was to experiment, and the least was because they imitated it from their parents. On the other hand, the most voted reason in private high school was to experiment also and the least was because of losing weight and media influence. 14 | P a g e Table 5. Rank of reasons of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools. Smoking Public Private Rank Votes Reason Rank Votes 6 0 Imitated from parents 2 6 2 5 Peer pressure 3 4 3 3 Media influence (advertisements) 5 0 5 1 Fashionable 4 3 5 1 Form of rebellion 4 3 4 2 Wanting to lose weight 5 0 1 6 To experiment 1 8 18 24 Table 6. Combined ranking of reasons of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Smoking Rank Reason Votes 1 To experiment 14 2 Peer pressure 9 3 Imitated from parents 6 4 Fashionable 4 4 Form of rebellion 4 5 Media influence (advertisements) 3 6 Wanting to lose weight 2 42. 15 | P a g e Reasons for smoking 7% To experiment 5% 33% 10% Peer Pressure Imitated from parents Fashionable 10% Form of rebellion Media influence 14% 21% Figure 5. Combined ranking of reasons of male and female students smoking in private and public high schools Students involved in drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools had their own reasons why they did the vice. As seen in Table 7, the most voted reason in public high school was to have good time with friends, and the least was because of boredom and form of rebellion. On the other hand, the most voted reason in private high school was to have good time with friends also and the least was because of boredom and form of rebellion also. 16 | P a g e Table 7. Rank of reasons of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools Drinking Alcoholic beverages Public Rank Vote Private Reason Rank Vote 1 13 To have good time with friends 1 17 3 5 To experiment, to see what it’s like 2 10 5 2 To feel good, get high 4 7 4 4 Because it tastes good 6 4 2 9 To relax or relieve tension 3 9 7 0 Boredom. 7 0 5 2 To get away from my problems 5 6 7 0 Form of rebellion 7 0 7 0 Influenced by alcoholic parents 8 0 6 1 To get to sleep 7 1 7 0 To fit with a group I like 8 0 7 0 Anger or frustration 8 0 36 54 17 | P a g e Table 8. Combined ranking of reasons of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools Drinking Rank Reason Votes 1 To have good time with friends 30 2 To relax or relieve tension 18 3 To experiment, to see what it’s like 15 4 To feel good, get high 9 5 Because it tastes good 8 5 To get away from my problems. 8 6 To get to sleep 2 7 Boredom 0 7 Form of rebellion 0 7 Influenced by alcoholic parents 0 7 To fit with a group I like 0 7 Anger or frustration 0 90 18 | P a g e Reasons for drinking alcoholic beverages 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% To have good time with friends To relax or relieve tension 9% To experiment, to see what it’s like 9% 33% To feel good, get high Because it tastes good To get away from my problems 10% To get to sleep Boredom Form of rebellion 17% Influenced by alcoholic parents 20% To fit with a group I like Anger or frustration Fig. 6. Combined ranking of reasons of male and female students drinking alcoholic beverages in private and public high schools High school students are indeed part of the society. However, that does not mean that all of them are aware on certain issues present in the status quo today. Figure7 shows us that in terms of awareness of male and female students in the effects of smoking to the health condition, 95% said that they are aware, and 5% said they are not aware. This just means that even though majority knows that this can affect health condition, there are still young students who are blindly exposed to this habit. Aware Not Aware 95% 5% Fig. 7. Awareness status of male and female students in the effects of smoking to the health condition 19 | P a g e Figure 8 shows us that in terms of awareness of male and female students in the effects of drinking alcoholic beverages to the health condition, 100% said that they are aware. Students were able to identify the negative effects of drinking to health condition. 100% Aware Not Aware Fig. 8. Awareness status of male and female students in the effects of drinking alcoholic beverages to the health condition. While it is important to know the reason why some adolescents smoke and/or drink alcoholic beverages, and after knowing if they were aware that these things affect their health conditions. We also have to look at the perceptions of people around them, and also what they think of themselves. In contrast to awareness of the respondents in the negative effects of smoking and drinking on health condition is their way of performing these vices, either alone, with friends, or both. Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 shows the way of drinking and smoking of public and private high school students respectively. It is observed that 53% or the majority of the students engage in drinking with friends, and 80% of them smoke either alone or with friends. This shows the social aspect of the students with their same age group in doing the said activities. 20 | P a g e Do you drink by yourself or with your friends? 0% Alone 47% With friends 53% Both Fig. 9. Way of drinking alcoholic beverages of male and female students among public and private high schools Do you smoke by yourself or with your friends? 0% 20% Alone With friends Both 80% Fig. 10. Way of smoking of male and female students among public and private high schools. 21 | P a g e Table 9. Perception of smokers and/or drinker of people on them Parents Cool || Friends Self 2 ||| 3 |||| 4 0 || 2 | 1 |||||-|||| 9 |||||-||| 8 |||||-| 6 |||| 4 || 2 |||| 4 Addict Good Bad As seen in Fig. 11, the majority of the students answered COOL as what they think their parents thought of them. The least vote was they thought that their parents think their children were bad. This means that even if they’re doing those kinds of vices, their parents still accept them. What your parents think of you? 9% 10% Cool Addict Good 23% 58% Bad Fig. 11. Perception of the respondents on what their parents think of them as they smoke and drink alcoholic beverages 22 | P a g e On the other hand, the Fig. 12 shows the perception of the respondents on what their friends think of them in engagement of the said vices. 54% think that their friends consider their activity in a good way because it helps them gain friends, to be able to interact, and to socialize well with other people. It is observed that what they think their friends perceive also had the same result as to how they comprehend themselves when they smoke or drink. What your friends think of you? 13% 20% Cool Addict 13% Good Bad 54% Fig. 12. Perception of the respondents on what their friends think of them as they smoke and drink alcoholic beverages It is also important that students can assess themselves even if they are doing some vices. As seen in Figure 13, majority of them still thought that they are good. However, 6% of the students thought they are addicts. Conversely, there is a consensus that 27% thought that they are cool and bad. 23 | P a g e How do you perceive youself? Cool 27% 27% Addict Good 6% Bad 40% Fig. 13. Perception of the respondents on what they perceive on themselves as they smoke and drink alcoholic beverages Perceptions are indeed important. But, it is still significant when it comes to application or reality. Are these students still gain friends after all their vices? In a poll seen in Fig. 14, 9 out of 15 said that they gained friends, and 6 out of 15 said that they did not gain friends. Meaning, there people who discriminate or dislike the vices. Or even if it’s okay for them, it is not proper to be exposed earlier. Did you gain friends? Yes No 60%. 40% 9 out of 15 6 out of 15 Fig. 14. A poll showing the effect of drinking and/or smoking on their socialization Seemingly, many committed smokers and/or drinkers showed that they gained friends after having learning how to smoke and/or drink. However, there are still some who don’t. 24 | P a g e LIMITATION AND SIGNIFICANCE Limitation There are certain problems that were encountered in the study. One of which is that the idea that honesty in answering these questionnaires have suffered. The respondents may or may not answer these questionnaires in full honesty. From here, we may have little discrepancies or percentage errors. Significance The significance of this study is for the teenagers to be aware in terms of the effects of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages on their physiological health. This study can also help the parents of those teenagers to understand more the point of view of teenagers who are engaged to these activities. They can know the cause why teenagers are into smoking and drinking alcoholic beverage. 25 | P a g e SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Summary and Conclusion The study was able to conduct the research on the prevalence of smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages among senior students of public and private high school. 18% of the students in both public and private schools are engaged in smoking; however, there are students in private schools who smoke more than students in public schools. It is concluded that the social status of the students is a common factor since private school students have more access to cigarettes and could afford it than those in public schools. It is also determined that the male students in private schools and the female students in public schools are more prone to the said vice and their main reasons were: (1) to experiment; (2) peer pressure; and (3) imitated from their parents. With regards to their way of smoking, the students’ general frequency is 1-2 times a week, and they usually smoke either alone or with peers. Most likely they tend to smoke with their peers because it is their way of socialization. The students also perceive that they are also likely to gain friends when they smoke. It is concluded that the perception of the students to what their parent think of them is â€Å"in-the-trend† when they are engaged in smoking. The majority thinks that their parents consider them as â€Å"cool† or â€Å"sophisticated†. Aside from that, the respondents think that their friends refer to smoking in a good way, causing them to also perceive the same judgment. To summarize the above statements, it is evident that the students in their adolescent stage have more desire to please their peers rather than their parents because they want to have a sense of belonging and they want to socialize more with people of the same age group. Peers are the most important relationship in the teenage years. They engage in different kinds of activities, and one of those are vices. In this stage, the curiosity level of the person is prominent because he/she is able to perceive different kinds of activities from various types of people. Parents are also a factor because they are the ones who nourish their child’s well-being. What they do causes 26 | P a g e various impacts on the child, causing him/her to either imitate it or not. The social status of the students also has an effect on their engagement in vices; it depends on how well they can afford it and on what terms they could get access. On the other hand, not every student in both public and private high schools is aware that smoking can affect their health condition. 5% of the students are still blindly exposed to the effects of smoking; therefore, it is recommended that both kinds of schools should also give the students more knowledge and expose them.