by Paige Bosio
Smoking. It affects you and everyone around you.The smell of the burning chemicals makes me want to gag and suck in oxygen.
I am surrounded by smokers. My mother smokes and so does my dad. My grandmother used to smoke. My grandfather smoked before I was born…but then died of lung cancer last year. Seeing my mom and dad smoke every day is not pleasant, especially when I can smell and breathe in the smoke.
Secondhand smoke, which is just breathing smoke in, is just as harmful. The smell for me is hard to bear. It’s unfortunate that people smoke around the ones they love because they are just harming them.
My father smokes because of stress from the economy. But ever since he had an operation and stayed in the hospital for a long time, he only smokes every so often. But he still does, so it is still bothersome. My mother smokes about four or five a day. My grandfather smoked before I was born, and so did my grandmother.
It is not like I just complain about it. I have talked to my mother and father about how it is so bad for you, and I hate the smell. I convinced my little brother that smoking is bad for you and a disgusting habit. He always speaks up whenever we see one of our parents take out a cigarette. They used to smoke in the car, but we nagged so much they stopped. But that does not mean that they completely stopped.
Maybe even some of your friends smoke. I know plenty of people my age, younger and older that smoke. At places like Assabet and Hudson High School, I know people that smoke, but I do not talk to them because I don’t associate myself with them.
Out of a survey of 107 people at the high school from grades eight to twelve, 32 of them have smoked a cigarette. That is 30%. Imagine smelling that all the time. Gross.
Some of the students in the 30% smoke weed. Sixteen of the students surveyed are active in smoking marijuana. Some of them smoke cigarettes and weed.
What makes them do that is beyond me. They would have to cover the gruesome smell with perfume or cologne. Waste their money on the product as well.
It angers me when my mother buys cigarettes when I am there in the car. She is wasting the family’s money.
Smoking has no upsides besides relieving stress or for “fun”. But it does so much damage to everyone and yourself. I don’t know how they can do it. The image of my family sucking in the chemicals and having a good time while killing their bodies is so… disappointing.
Imagine that tar, which is supposed to be on roofs for houses, going into your lungs, making your lungs a dull and lifeless gray/black color. The nicotine makes you addicted, so you don’t want to stop the smoking. Nasty.
Bronchitis. Emphysema. Cancer. Unfortunate medical conditions that happen to smokers and probably my mother. Some people get upset by it, but I think they did it to themselves.
Plenty of schools educate their students about the harms of smoking. There is no excuse to not know about the dangers of smoking. The only excuse I would take is smoking for a medical reason. Other than that, people are torturing their innocent bodies.
My brother and I fight against it.
I hope one day all people have stopped smoking. And I also hope that someday, my parents will quit.
