Smoking takes away a smoker's free choice. Since adolescents especially desire autonomy over all areas of their lives, demonstrate how tobacco addiction takes away free will, particularly the ability to stop smoking. Smoking is not an adult habit or an effective act of rebellion. Point out that only 27 percent of adults smoke-evidence that smoking is not a prevalent sign of maturity. Adolescents who want to rebel against those seeking to control them should resist the lure of tobacco companies and their advertising agencies, not non-smoking adults.
Smoking destroys good health.
Show the probable physical effects of smoking in full detail. Most teenagers do not smoke and it is okay to refuse to smoke. Point out that fewer than 20 percent of teenagers smoke regularly, and in California only 5 percent do so. Youth who begin to smoke because their peers do are really succumbing to perceived pressures from a minority. The American Lung Association's anti-smoking, parent participation curriculum, with a multicultural video.