Chronic cough, reduced stamina, and leukemia. This is what teen smokers will have to look forward to if they continue their bad habits.

The tar in cigarettes is extremely bad for teeth, the tobacco in cigarettes ruins your lungs, and the cherry on top of this wonderful nicotine sundae is an unavoidable lifetime of addiction.

            Smoking is a nasty habit, but teens still continue to “light ‘em up.” My question is why? I may have found my answer.

            Web sites such as usgovinfo.com say that smoking is just a trend. I definitely do not approve of this; however, I must admit that they may be right.

            According to family.firstaid.org, about 3,900 teens under the age of 18 start smoking every day. At first I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, but after thinking about it, I have noticed more teen smokers than usual.

            However, these teens shouldn’t take all the blame. Studies show that only two percent of teen smokers have parents that don’t smoke. This should scream out to parents to be a better example. Kids look up to adults, and they do rely on them as role models.

            Regardless of parent influence, I really do think that teens need to be concerned about the dangers they face every time they pull out one of those “cancer sticks.”           

            Even just short term use of spit tobacco can cause horrendous side effects such as cracked lips, white spots, sores, and bleeding in the mouth. If I grossed you out there, good. That’s exactly what I intended.

            Teens have most likely been informed of the disgusting and bloodcurdling consequences of nicotine, but they still continue to prove themselves careless.

            Trendy or not, I don’t think teens should even think about smoking.

            Regardless of what I think, there’s still going to be teens smoking after they read this column.

            I’m not an idiot; I know this. That’s not at all my point in writing this.

            I’m writing this because I’m tired of walking my 4-year-old sister to the store into a cloud of cigarette smoke on my way in, I’m tired of coughing because teens smoke right outside of our school, I’m tired of my younger siblings witnessing teens light up cigarettes right next to a preschool, and I’m extremely tired of teens thinking it’s a passing trend.

            I don’t think of it as a trend at all, I think of it as a stupid decision that will haunt smokers for the rest of their lives. It’s a decision that will have dire consequences; one of the nastiest consequences by far is addiction.

            Many try to quit, but not a lot are successful. An article on reuters.com stated that 60.9 percent of high school smokers tried to quit smoking in 2009. Although not a lot of these smokers succeeded, I’m glad that they at least made an effort.

            Let me be the first to say that I will definitely not be follow these trendsetters.