Editorial: Smoking, Not Always Behind the Scenes by Mary

 We spend most, if not all, of our lives telling minors not to smoke; especially when we see or smell other people smoking nearby. But how effectively do we stand by our words when it comes to the media? Smoking is so common in tv shows and movies that it doesn’t register in our minds until the main character of a child’s movie is smoking. In the movie Rango Rango, the main character, is often seen with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. This caused such a controversy on a variety of levels. But how exactly does it affect the youth of society?

According to CNN, “For every 500 smoking scenes a child saw in PG-13 movies, his or her likelihood of trying cigarettes increased by 49%.” In other words, after consistent exposure of smoking in movies, children are more likely to try cigarettes and become future smokers. More smokers will eventually lead to more deaths per year. Smoking-related diseases claim over 393,000 American lives each year (Lung.org).

So what can we do to start saving lungs and lives? We can start by pushing major producers to begin lowering the amount of smoking scenes allowed in movies. Denise Mann, reporter from CNN news, claims “...this decline in on-screen smoking may have occurred in tandem with a drop in the number of adolescents who have lit up in real life.”

Whether or not the producers accept a limit, I strongly believe we should require them to rate their films as rated-R if they contain smoking scenes. Films can be rated-R for having consistent profanity, which, in reality, does no physical harm to anyone. Smoking harms the smoker and everyone around the smoker, so why do we allow it to be displayed (often positively) in films that minors have easy access to?

Smoking does kill and it continues to kill because we allow it to. It’s time to make a change and save lives one step at a time.