6% of 10-year-olds have tried smoking at least once. The percentage increases to 27% if we talk about 14-year-old students. This is shown by the data of a study carried out by World Vision Romania. And electronic cigarettes have been tried by 18% of 14-year-olds.
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What makes children exposed to addictions
Almost 3,000 students between the ages of 10 and 14, from both urban and rural areas, responded to the study which shows, among other things, what is the behavior regarding smoking.
According to World Vision Romania, the probability that a child ends up consuming harmful substances increases in the following situations:
• The child’s socio-emotional imbalance and his inability to properly manage his emotions, problems, needs;
• Access to substances, products and environments harmful to the child;
• Lack of family support and parental control;
• Deficient management of the material and economic situation in which he perceives his family;
• The presence in the family and in the group of friends and relatives of people with harmful behavior
The psychologist’s warning
Psychologist Mihai Copăceanu says that many children end up trying cigarettes because society has a greater tolerance for this behavior harmful to health, and hence the commercialization that breaks the rules.
“We as a nation are extremely permissive of underage smoking, as evidenced by the sale without any remorse or awareness of the law breaking on the part of the marketers. We are permissive considering smoking to be much less harmful compared to other drugs.
That is why in our country children start smoking at an extremely young age. Psychologically speaking, the younger you are, not only the risk of suffering from diseases of various organs is greater, but the risk of becoming addicted is greater. And another important thing, the younger children start smoking, the harder it is for them to quit.”the psychologist draws attention.
Addiction, he says, can set in quickly, even if many have the impression that they are just trying:
“Children can become addicted to smoking much faster than they think and often they deny the fact that they are addicted by saying that they can easily abstain, that there can be days when they don’t smoke, or reality contradicts them. It is very difficult for them to refrain. So from a first cigarette smoke to an addiction the road is much shorter”.
“The critical age of risk has decreased”
According to the psychologist, the age at which children are most sensitive to harmful behaviors has also decreased:
“Until now, the age of 13 was the most critical, it was the moment when it was observed behaviorally and psychologically that a child wanted to behave like a teenager and mainly adopted different risky behaviors, from smoking to alcohol and drug consumption. Today the age has decreased and we have these problems not occasional, not random, but much more frequent at 12 years. We have a significant narrowing of the gender gap, so today the number of girls who use tobacco has greatly increased.”
What’s up with e-cigarettes?
The World Vision study shows that 18% of 14-year-old students have tried e-cigarettes. This type of devices appeared on the market in 2007 and since then they have attracted more and more users. Because they’re relatively new, there aren’t any studies looking at long-term effects, but that doesn’t mean they’re risk-free. In addition, the nicotine in them is highly addictive.
“The hundreds of types, the hundreds of flavors that are sold freely on any site make them a much higher risk because there is no safety of the products and their authentic composition, it is practically impossible to control so many hundreds of types of products and brands. There are age segments where electronic cigarettes are consumed much more than classic ones, there are young people who first start smoking electronic cigarettes, there are young people who are addicted to them and of course there are young people who see these substances as much cooler compared to classic ones”, Mihai Copăceanu thinks.
Both the European Society of Respiratory Diseases and the World Health Organization do not recommend using electronic cigarettes as an alternative to traditional smoking.
The recommendations of the World Vision Romania organization
With the publication of the study, the non-governmental organization launched the “LIBER esti FĂRĂ” campaign and comes with a series of recommendations for the authorities:
- The introduction of specific topics to prevent addictions, within the mandatory hours of counseling and management.
- Training of teachers and school counselors based on the National Guidelines for the Prevention of Addictions in Schools (ANPCDA & Ministry of Education and Research)
- Real collaboration between school, family, family doctor, psychologists and ANPCDA
- An accessible national program for parents (information meetings, easy-to-use guides and emotional support for parents)
- Expanding access to mental health services for children
- Tighter regulation of gambling exposure
- Healthy leisure alternatives by funding sports, arts and technical clubs with free or reduced access for vulnerable children.
