Social environment can influence young smokers

Published on June 23, 2008 5:42 AM

School’s social environment can influence smoking rates. Health researchers have found that students who experience positive social environment in school are less likely to take up smoking.

High-school students have another opinion: they stated that current anti-smoking campaigns are ineffective.

But the Medical Research Council (MRC) has studied more than 5,000 students in 24 Scottish schools. This study was led by Marion Henderson of the MRC.

Henderson reported that the social environment of schools can influence both boys’ and girls’ smoking habits. The social environment can be teacher-student relationship, students' attitude towards school and the school's focus on caring and inclusiveness.

The aim of this research was to examine the social determinants of smoking among adolescents attending school.

Dr Henderson and her colleagues have found that, in average, 25% of males and 39% of females aged 15-16, reported that they smoke either regularly or occasionally.

She added: "Our research has shown that this environment acts to either encourage or discourage smoking."

The research showed that "school effects" were stronger than other factors, such as whether pupils smoked before joining, whether they lived with both parents and how much personal spending money they had.

Dr Henderson said: "Our results suggest that investing in social environment of schools and endeavoring to make school a positive experience even for less academically-able students may have the potential of reducing smoking rates, particularly for boys."