DAMMAM, 21 September 2004 — Juvenile smoking is increasing at an alarming rate in the Kingdom and despite the government’s several measures, smoking among students under-18 is as rampant as ever causing concern for the parents, school authorities and the government officials.
There are already several anti-smoking campaigns in the Kingdom and the government has introduced various legislations to curb smoking. Last year, the government issued a new edict under which smoking was banned in public places like ministries, government administration offices, airports, hospitals, mosques, domestic flights and educational institutions, and all other public places.
The government, aware of the increase of smoking among children, enacted another law making it mandatory for the cigarette manufacturers to print “For Adults Only” on cigarette packs. It also banned sale of cigarettes to children under-16. The law stipulated heavy fines and even cancellation of licenses of those supermarkets and retail outlets that violated the new law.
Unfortunately, this new law was hardly followed by the retailers who continued to sell cigarettes to children. Until date, not a single retailer has been prosecuted for violating the law. Ironically, the Dammam Municipality had set up squads to ensure implementation of the anti-smoking law but not a single punitive action has been reported.
Health authorities as well as social workers were optimistic that the new measures will drastically cut the dreadful addiction among the young smokers.
Muhammad Al-Zahrani, supervisor at the Al-Amal Center in Dammam, had hoped that the new legislation would reduce the menace of smoking and lower the pressure on clinics that treat smokers. Al-Amal Center is a prime government center, which helps smokers to kick the habit.
Educators, health officials as well as parents say that smoking among children under-16 is rising at an alarming rate. “The country which has a comparatively young population has to do something fast before the entire generation is ruined,” said Al-Zahrani, who added that his center was receiving more cases of juvenile smokers now than in the past.
Although there are no definite and comprehensive data available on juvenile smoking but various individuals in the recent past have undertaken studies and conducted several sample surveys in various parts of the Kingdom. All such surveys indicated that smoking among children under the age of 16 was on the increase.
Khaled Al-Mutairi of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska in his sample survey of 715 Saudi students found that 10 percent of the sample smoked cigarettes, 8.7 percent shisha and 17.3 percent smoked both cigarettes and shisha.
Another survey quoted by Al-Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, revealed that there were 11.7 percent smokers among students.
However, social activists as well as health officials say that these figures are much below the actual student smokers. “Many students and children under-16 do not confess to smoking. They do realize the stigma attached to smoking and as a result do not reveal their habit,” said Ali Abdullah, a counselor at the Al-Amal Center.
Why do children start smoking at such a tender age, especially in an environment where smoking is a social, cultural and religious taboo?
There have been several studies on the subject that have explored various reasons, and the prime reason ascribed to juvenile smoking is given as misplaced sense of romanticism and imitation of the peers and the parents.
Dr. Fariduddin Ahmad, a doctor at the Ministry of Health, says that it is a tendency among kids to pretend and behave like an adult. To them one of the manifestations of adulthood is smoking.
Ali Abdullah, the counselor at Al-Amal Center, said that during his sessions with young smokers he found that most of them did not enjoy smoking in the beginning. “Many of them told me that they felt sick and dizzy after they inhaled their first few cigarettes.”
Then why did they continue smoking?
“Giving up smoking would have exposed us as weak and not man enough,” an addict confessed to Abdullah.
Psychologists and sociologists say that the children of smoking parents are more prone to smoking. “Every child idolizes his parent and since his or her childhood he watches them smoking; to him smoking is not something bad otherwise why would his father smoke,” said Dr. Mona, a psychologist at King Fahd University Hospital in Alkhobar.
Televisions and satellite channels have also helped in spreading the habit of smoking among schoolchildren. “The ban on advertisement of cigarettes did have an impact but not sufficient enough to discourage smoking among children. When kids watch their favorite stars smoking they consider that as part of their positive and dashing personality and then eventually try to emulate their stars. Like their parents, children also tend to idolize their teachers and any habit of theirs they take as a positive aspect of their personality.
According to a study conducted by the Public Administration for School Health, there are 17.2 percent smokers among Saudi male teachers. Fifty percent of them have been smoking for more than 20 years with the majority of them smoking because of psychological reasons.
Abdullah A. Misnid, principal of a government secondary school in Thuqba, admitted that smoking among students was on the rise. “We are very strict about smoking not only among the students but teachers as well. But certainly we could control them within the school premises. But there is an element of defiance among students and we have caught and punished many students in the past one year,” he said.
Outside the school premises just a few meters away is a small grocery store and after 1.30 p.m. this store does roaring business. Among the major items it sells are softdrinks, chips, chocolates and, of course, cigarettes.
Why does he sell cigarettes to students when he knows that it is illegal?
“We refused initially but these students who come in groups get rowdy and start breaking things inside the store,” the shopowner said.
Arab News tried to talk to a young Saudi student, not more than 12 years of age who was puffing a Marlboro Light just outside the store.
The child, Ali (not his real name) first refused to talk but when assured that he will not be identified agreed to talk. He revealed that he started smoking nearly six months ago. “The first cigarette I lighted was just for fun and at the insistence of my close friends who said it gave a macho image. Initially I never liked its smell and found myself coughing and suffocating,” he said.
But he thought that if he revealed his uneasiness with cigarettes his friends would ridicule him and call him a kid. “In their company I continued smoking and gradually I started liking it. Now I need at least 10 cigarettes a day,” he said.
Ali is typical of hundreds of young students who start smoking in a similar fashion and end up as an addict.
Khaled Al-Shamarry, a teacher at the secondary school for boys at Abdullah Fouad District, says that smoking in his school was rising among students of secondary level. “We have taken several measures including confiscating their cigarette packs, lighters and in some cases even money, but it has not made any big difference.” He believes that the basic responsibility lies with the parents. “They should monitor their children’s behavior and cut down their pocket money,” he said.
Smoking among children is not restricted to Saudis, but is spreading among expatriate students as well. There have been reports of increased smoking incidence at the International Indian School as well as at Pakistani School. Educationists as well as sociologists and parents say that a lot has to be done to curb smoking among all the people in general and among children in particular. They say that some more strict laws should be enforced to curb smoking and the sale of cigarettes. Some of them go to the extent of calling for a blanket ban on the sales of cigarettes in the Kingdom.
The social, cultural and religious inhibitions prevented people from smoking in early days, but now it appears that such inhibitions do not exist any more, said Ali Abdullah, the counselor.
Social activists and educators say that a comprehensive law was needed at the earliest for the suppression of the use of tobacco by children under the age of 18 years. The law should prohibit use of tobacco in any form by children under-18 and if any person so doing shall be liable to fine and his parents should also be punished.
The anti-tobacco group says that the authorities should enforce more strictly the rules regarding the sale of cigarette; retailers found selling cigarettes to children should be lashed and jailed and their license canceled. “It is only such harsh measure which could prevent children from smoking,” said Ali Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, a social worker.
“It is high time that something was done in this country to prevent, or at least control, the evil effects of a habit which may lead to the decadence of the nation,” said Yasser Al-Hamid, a sociologist.