Teens don’t need no health education

Latest figures show that the number of teenagers smoking is still on the increase, especially amongst young girls. Until its ban in the UK two years ago, the main culprit for its steady increase had to be tobacco advertising. For the frightening array of methods that tobacco companies use to target children, check out Ash.

Now there is an advertising war on, and the Government is fighting back. Their heavy campaigning seems to be having an effect on adults, amongst whom smoking is steadily declining. But commentators do not seem to know quite how to target children and teenagers. Efforts at education appear sporadic and ham-fisted.

It probably comes down to the old reverse psychology. The more you tell a teenager not to do something the more rebellious it feels to do it. Let’s just hope that the UK ban on advertising has some trickle down effect to children as well.
> From BBC News


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This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

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Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book "Making Habits, Breaking Habits" (Da Capo, 2013) and several ebooks.