Cigarettes-small rolls of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. Though it is illegal for minors to purchase or possess tobacco products, nearly a quarter of all high school students smoke cigarettes according the Center for Disease Prevention.

“I started smoking at the age of 12,” Sydney Wolcott, freshman, said. “I started because of peer pressure and constant bickering from people I knew.”

A sixth grade friend introduced Wolcott to cigarettes, but Wolcott originally found the concept of smoking repulsive. Her feelings quickly progressed into a constant need for cigarettes

“I got to the point where I smoked a pack a day,” Wolcott said. “I got the packs through friends, but sometimes I had to pay for them in which case they would cost about the normal price plus a little extra to account for the trouble of providing them.”

Wolcott’s habit of smoking was soon discovered by her mother whose disappointment and anger prompted Wolcott to begin the process of quitting. She was 14 when her mother found out, and Wolcott said she was “constantly nagged” to stop smoking.

“My mom found out because it’s really hard to conceal the fact that you smoke,” Wolcott said. “Once she found out, I tried my hardest to stop but it was a lengthy procedure.”

It took roughly three months for Wolcott to fully quit smoking. Wolcott said she would chew gum and avoid being around smokers, repetitively telling herself that she “didn’t need it.”

‘It was difficult for me to stop because my mom smokes, though mostly just in her room, and every time I would see somebody smoke it would trigger those urges to start smoking again,” Wolcott said.

Now, Wolcott is disgusted by others smoking, and is put off by the smell of the cigarettes. She is not financially strained from the pressure of buying cigarettes and no longer has urges to resume smoking.

“Some of my friends still smoke, but seeing them smoke doesn’t make me feel the need to start smoking too,” Wolcott said. “I’ve completely quit.”

Eileen Huang, freshman, does not smoke, but is friends with several people who do.

“I can’t say that I will never once smoke because I probably will try it at some point in time,” Huang said. “I don’t think that I will routinely smoke though because I think it’s a gross habit and it’s really addictive. I don’t want to prompt my death.”

Huang said many teenagers view smoking as cool and adult, but it “really just makes you smell bad.” Several of her friends’ parents smoke, which she said is partly why some of them started to smoke.

‘It seems cool to them, and I think they start for attention,” Huang said. “Also, if your parents smoke, it is not that hard to start up with your parent’s cigarettes.”

Dr. Etihad Al Falahi, M.D., agreed with Huang in that several teens begin to smoke due to parental influences.

“A lot of my patients are influenced by one or more parents smoking because the health risks are not as routinely stressed and emphasized,” Dr. Falahi said. “When they have seen parents smoking from a very young age, they are more inclined to begin smoking. Glorified smoking in the media also contributes to teen smoking.”

Dr. Falahi does, however, encourage teens to make a sincere attempt to quit smoking citing the grave health hazards that arise when one smokes.

“Smoking significantly increases a teen’s for developing lung cancer and other diseases,” Dr. Falahi said. “Though smoking may be enjoyable and seem cool when you are young, having rotting teeth and suffering from lung cancer will definitely make you regret smoking in the future.”