Teens, quit smoking, get a mobile phone instead

New Delhi, November 3: Give your teenager the mobile phone he's been pestering you for. A new British study finds that it might do the tee...

New Delhi, November 3: Give your teenager the mobile phone he’s been pestering you for. A new British study finds that it might do the teenager good, since it just might keep them away from the dreaded addiction of cigarettes. A study presented in this week’s British Medical Journal (BMJ) argues that mobile phones may be competing successfully with cigarettes to meet certain important teenage needs.

Anne Charlton, an emeritus professor at the School of Epidemiology and Health Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK says in the BMJ that “the mobile phone is an effective competitor to cigarettes in the market for products that offer teenagers adult style”. Today, a handheld chat machine is owned by most upwardly mobile youngsters. The tobacco companies are also targeting this same crowd. And if the results of the British study hold true for India, one just might see the Indian teenager aggressively exercising his choice towards the mobile phone.

The study finds that smoking among 15 year-olds fell from 30 per cent to 23 per cent between 1996 and 1999 in Britain, while mobile phone ownership among 15-17 year-olds rose from low levels in 1996 to 70 per cent by August 2000. The researchers argue that these trends are related because some teenagers may just not be able to afford paying for both the cash card on the phone and the costly cigarettes. They say mobile phones are the new ticket to adulthood among teenagers.

Story continues below this ad

Moreover, the mobile phone satisfies the same teenage needs as does smoking by offering a seemingly matured independent life style, individuality, sociability, rebellion, and peer group bonding and adult aspiration. The mobile phone will not only help parents keep track of their teenagers while they are on their prowls, but may also keep them away from smoking.

The researchers also suggest that for teenagers, smoking may soon be seen as “old technology”, with the `bright new world of text messaging, email and WAP’ becoming the new aspirational gateway to adult life. The `mine is smaller than your’s’ electronic gadget may just go a longer way in keeping teenagers from smoking than the fine print — hardly legible — statutory warning printed on cigarette packs.