User:MCohen23/Smoking on College Campuses

Smoking on College Campuses

Introduction
It is estimated that in the year 2000, 3.83 million premature deaths in the world were attributable to smoking alone. Without effective intervention and policy development to reduce smoking, the mortality rate is expected to increase. In the United States, 21% of adults 18 years of age and over currently smoke cigarettes. However, the rate is far higher among college-aged students. The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 30% of 18 to 24 year olds smoke cigarettes. Moreover, 40% of college students report smoking within the last year, suggesting that trying cigarettes and sporadic use is common. Coupled with the higher smoking rate among students, is the finding that college students do not heed to smoking associated health warnings. In a 1995 study, Kvis notes that younger smokers (18 to 29 year olds) are less concerned by health outcomes than older adults. Moreover, the author suggests that they perceive the process of quitting to be easy, and believe that they will be spared from the long-term health effects of smoking.

College students commonly engage in low level smoking, meaning they smoke between three and eight cigarettes a week, often in the context of certain situations and settings. Some students may smoke at a slightly higher rate, between nine and twenty cigarettes per week, however still do not consider themselves ‘smokers.’ Because cigarettes are a socially engineered product, their use among students must be examined from a perspective that understands their social utility and functions.

Smoking and Parties
The typical smoking pattern for college smokers is to start of as party smokers and then transfer that behavior to new settings. Initially, students begin smoking at parties because it facilitates social interactions. As many students arrive at school knowing few, if any, other people, parties provide at atmosphere for the establishment of new friendships. Moreover, establishing one’s identity within the first few weeks of school is important in a place where every student starts with a clean slate. Therefore, it is not surprising that many students use smoking in overwhelming social situations, such as parties, as a means of structuring a setting for comfortable social interaction. Students cited using cigarettes as a way to “make the flow of the conversation go easier.” This includes utilizing the rituals of smoking (bumming cigarettes, sharing cigarettes, asking for a light) as a means of starting conversations or inserting oneself in a group discussion. Cigarettes also provided a tool to help fill in time when a student finds oneself with no one to talk with or nothing to do.

Smoking and Drinking
While low-level smoking on college campuses is becoming increasingly problematic, it often intersects with another health related issue within the school setting: binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks per episode for males, and four or more drinks per episode for females. Research shows that non-daily college aged smokers (21-25 years old), have higher rates of binge drinking in comparison to never smokers, than do daily smokers. Moreover, more smoking was reported on drinking and binge-drinking days, than on non-drinking days. Results also indicated that students typically consumed 2-3 drinks before initiating smoking, indicating that an alcohol is consumed as a precursor to cigarette use. These results show how low level smoking and alcohol use, especially in a college setting situations which frequently permit and advocate their use, can lead to increased levels of both substances when used together.

Smoking and Boredom
College students frequently begin to establish an association with weekday smoking and having nothing to do in the university setting. This may stem from the context in which current college students have grown up. Most have grown accustomed to their everyday life being saturated with technological means of staying connected with others. Therefore the feeling of nonconectedness that many students encounter during their initial college experience has grown more abrasive as a result of many years of intense connection with others. In this sense, boredom is often associated with being alone. The cigarette is sometimes used as a way to fill in time during these periods of being alone. At other times, smoking can be used to bring people together to ameliorate loneliness.

Smoking and Gender
Levels of college smoking appear to be equal among young men and women in the college setting. Surveys show that among students who have ever tried smoking cigarettes (70%), equal proportions of males and females report being current smokers. Nevertheless, gendered perceptions of smoking are prevalent. Smoking among males was often viewed favorably. Students suggested that male smoking reaffirmed a type of mysterious bad-boy masculinity. The cigarette in had made one look more cool and in control. On the other hand, perceptions of female smoking were often negative. Both genders suggested that it was a turn off to see females smoking. Often it was associated with words such as “trashy,” and “slutty,” especially among women pledging a sorority. Some sororities had rules that pledges could not smoke with their letters on, whereas in fraternities no such rule existed. The ultimate effect of these guidelines is that they frequently reaffirm gender ideals in connection with cigarettes.