Student Understanding and Use of Tobacco in Selected Schools of Cache County, Utah

• Main Author: Brotherson, Kirk E.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 1967
• Subjects: physical education; tobacco; cache county; Other Education
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2903; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3916&context=etd

Student understanding and use of tobacco was studied under t he following specific areas: specific knowledge as it relates to smoking and health; student opinions and attitudes toward smoking; smoking experience; and the influence of certain factors on smoking status. About 700 students were sampled with the use of a questionnaire. The number of students was divided about equally among four schools and between boys and girls at each grade level, grades seven through twelve. It was found t hat boys were better informed than girls about tobacco as it relates to health. Also, the senior high school students were better informed than the junior high school students. The majority (91 percent) of all students surveyed were of the opinion that the pleasure derived from smoking was not worth the price a person has to pay in terms of health and expense. Few students like having their parents smoke, and most are violently opposed to having them smoke. There were nine percent of the students who smoked regularly (at least once a week) with another eight percent smoking once in a while. This ranged from three percent in the seventh grade to fifteen percent in the twelfth grade. The factors having the most influence upon student smoking status were religion, friends, and health implications.